A Change of Heart
by Nari Castaneda
Summary: On her final year at Hogwarts Lily is interested in one of the Marauders, is it who you expect or does her heart belong to someone else?
1. The most annoying person in the world

Chapter 1  
  
Lily looked outside the car window. She was in the car on her way to King's Cross to catch the Hogwarts express in platform nine and three quarters. It seemed like only yesterday that she had gotten her letter of acceptance from Hogwarts. Now, in her seventh and final year, she felt the melancholic feeling of the last times of everything in school. This would be the last time she would be heading towards Hogwarts, the last year she would spend in the big, musty, old castle. The last times she would sit in her favorite chair in the Gryffindor common room in front of the fire, just doing homework. She thought about the last few years. They had been so common, so simple, and so full of joy. She had spent the best time thus far in her life in that school with her friends and classmates. She did great in school, she had been named prefect during her fifth year and just a month ago had received a letter from the deputy headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, informing her she had been named Head Girl. Her parents had been thrilled. They were happy about the fact that their daughter was a witch and even more so over the fact that she was one of the best students. She had been showered by attention as she had arrived home during the holidays.  
  
Petunia, her older sister had been raging. She hated that her parents were so proud about Lily being a witch. She refused to even utter the words 'magic' and 'witch' in the privacy of their own home, even when it was just Lily and her. Lily felt disappointed at times. Her sister meant a lot to her, even with her attitude towards everything having to do with Lily and the world she lived in. They were still sisters and it pained her that Petunia disregarded her so. Petunia no longer lived with her parents; she lived with her husband, Vernon Dursley. She had been married for two years, and since then had cut off communications with her sister. Every now and then she visited her parents, but never when Lily was there for the summers. As a matter of fact, ever since Hogwarts, Petunia would always find a good excuse to stay with relatives as opposed to staying at home during the summers.  
  
Lily snapped back to the present as she noticed the car had stopped. They had arrived at the station five minutes before the train left. In a hurried goodbye, she hugged her mother and father.  
  
"I'll be okay. You do this every summer mom. I'll be fine. I'll write as much as I can," she said looking at her mother fondly.  
  
"Really darling, do write. I know I do this every time, but you're still my baby girl. I already lost your sister. It's going to be so lonely in the house without you. What am I going to do with myself?" she pulled Lily into another hug.  
  
"If there is anything you need sweetheart, don't hesitate to tell us. You know, I really do love receiving mail through owls, it makes us feel like we share some of this magic with you," her father said smiling. He kissed her on her forehead and pushed her trolley towards the area where the trunks where being loaded.  
  
She looked at her parents and with a final hug entered the train, looking back several times to see them smiling, waiting for her to truly enter the train.  
  
"Lily!" someone called from behind her. She turned to see a raven-haired girl with bright blue eyes calling her excitedly, "Lily, come on!"  
  
Lily smiled as she greeted the girl.  
  
"Sara! It's so good to see you," She said pulling her friend into a hug, "I've missed you."  
  
Sarah Bones was Lily's best friend. They had first met during the train trip to Hogwarts on their first year. Sarah had bumped into a couple of bad- mannered second years who had been bullying her. Lily had caught the scene and had quickly risen to defend the unknown girl. She had been saved from the situation (the bullies had drawn their wands and were ready to cast a few spells), when a group of four boys had suddenly released fireworks in the hall where they were standing. Lily had made quickly for the next train car, pulling Sarah along with her. The bullies had been too distracted searching for the source of the firecrackers to notice the two girls gone.  
  
That had not been the last encounter Sarah and Lily had ever had with Lucius Malfoy and Walden Macnair, but it had been the one to start their friendship. Sarah had been forever grateful towards Lily for standing up to the bullies.  
  
"So are you going to tell me where you have been up to all summer?" Sarah inquired smiling mischievously at her old-time friend, "Anything- rather, anyone interesting talk to you during the summer?"  
  
She continued prodding Lily for answers. She wanted to know who Lily had kept in contact. There were several boys in their year who continuously asked her out. She kept her distance, but in the off chance she liked them, Sarah had to drag the name out of her, in an attempt to hang something over Lily's head. She demanded finally and directly.  
  
"Just stop being such a kid already Lily. Tell me who you like!" she whined ending her request in a very childish tone.  
  
"I don't know what you are talking about," she said with a knowing grin. Sarah started to object when Lily said, "But I might have slight affection for a certain person we know."  
  
"Uhuh," Sarah listened attentively.  
  
"Who belongs to a certain group." Lily continued going slowly as to irritate her friend.  
  
"Go on," Sarah said impatiently.  
  
"Who call themselves the ---" she refused to look at Sarah now, without a doubt hoping she wouldn't have to finish her sentence. As if by a miracle, there was a knock on the compartment door and a dark haired boy appeared opening the door.  
  
"Geesh! Pick the worst time to come in won't you?! Blimey, I was about to get my ration of ammo to torture Lily with for the rest of the year!" Sarah said exasperated at the boy.  
  
He smiled at Sarah, who looked positively annoyed at the presence of the young man, "Bothering you Sarah, is one of the things that brightens up my day."  
  
Lily looked relieved and happy as she spoke, "Sirius, if there was ever a time when I have ever appreciated your existence, it is now."  
  
He turned to look at Lily and smiled.  
  
"Well, it's nice to know when you are wanted," he sat down next to Lily who flashed smiles in his direction and he began to speak, "So I've been looking up and down for you girls. I know someone who's interested in talking to you Lily."  
  
Lily looked at him quizzically and looked at Sarah who had the same puzzled face.  
  
"Well, are you going to tell us who?" Sarah asked intrigued.  
  
"James Potter," he said simply.  
  
"Oh," Sarah said rolling her eyes, "That's it? I thought you meant someone-- "  
  
"Someone who doesn't annoy me to no end. Someone whose company is bearable. Someone who I don't think should be strangled!" her voice got stronger as she listed her thoughts. Lily, without a doubt, could not stand James Potter. 


	2. Smitten with a marauder

Chapter 2  
  
Rating: good quality fun for the whole family.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter or any of the characters are in any of the five books, they all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner bros. and scholastic etc.  
  
A/N: Thanx for the reviews. I hope u guys like the new part.  
  
"Lily, come on. I know how you feel about his jokes but---" Sirius started before Lily cut him off.  
  
"But nothing. He's cruel and he's no better than some of the Slytherins who go around cursing people just because they feel like it." She said angrily.  
  
"Well, I use to do it too." Sirius said regrettably, "I'm not proud of it. But Lily, he's not as bad as you think. I mean, you and I get along don't we? Besides, no one is as bad as the Slytherins."  
  
"James sure is. He could be as bad as Malfoy or Macnair In regards to you, well, you are different. You regret it, obviously. I still catch James doing some of those stupid pranks on innocent younger kids. They don't do anything to him and he jinxes anyone who comes across his path."  
  
She was angry at James for having sent Sirius to do his dirty work. She knew very well what James wanted with her. He wanted to ask her out, but she refused as she had ever since he had first asked her out in their fourth year. They hadn't even as much as talked. She never knew what to make of James. When she wasn't in a bad mood, when she noticed James doing something nice (which was hardly ever), she felt flattered by his persistence. He was a good-looking guy, quite a big catch according to a lot of the other girls. She didn't really think of herself as pretty so she wondered why he would bother asking her out. She wished she had raven-like hair and bright blue eyes like Sarah's, instead of her dark red hair and her emerald green eyes. She remembered having been teased at the muggle elementary school as a little girl, called a carrot head. It had been a long time since anyone had called her the annoying name, but it still made her feel self-conscious when she thought about it.  
  
"I think you're too quick to judge. besides that twit always acts like an idiot around you." Sirius teased.  
  
"Stop it! I don't want to hear about James anymore. Why don't you tell us what you did over the summer? Anything interesting?" Lily looked at him with interest and gave him her full attention as he hesitantly changed the topic.  
  
Once Sirius had left the compartment a little bit later, Sarah started questioning Lily again.  
  
"You do realize that you will have to tell me eventually? I mean, I am your best friend and all." Sarah looked at Lily, who had been distracted since Sirius had left. "Lily, are you listening?"  
  
"Hmm?" Lily said turning to see her friend. "What? I'm sorry Sarah. I was just thinking."  
  
"It's no point talking to you when you are so. dreamy. I wonder where Hannah is. We must be halfway to Hogwarts and she hasn't come by. Maybe we should go look for her." Sarah said getting up.  
  
"You're right. Maybe she's sitting with her boyfriend. You know, that cute Hufflepuff. Oh I forgot, I was supposed to go to the prefect's cabin to tell them what they're supposed to do. Come with me and you can look for Hannah meanwhile." They left the compartment and while Lily went to the front of the train to the prefect's compartment, Sarah went searching for Hannah.  
  
When Lily got to her destination, she had a dreadful surprise. Standing there, talking to the prefects was James Potter. Lily could tell it was going to be an annoying experience.  
  
"Potter, what are you doing here?" She said looking at him scathingly.  
  
"Evans, fancy meeting you here. About an hour late, but I'm glad you finally decided to grace us with your presence." He said with a wide smile. "In case you haven't noticed, I have been named Head Boy. So I guess it's you and me for Gryffindor. Where have you been?"  
  
She scowled at his words. She didn't find him particularly charming, especially when he tried to look smug about things. "I had important things to do."  
  
He looked reluctant to accept her excuse but still gave her a smile. "Well, there's nothing left to be done here. They have their instructions."  
  
"Fine then, I'm just going to go back." She said annoyed.  
  
"Evans, wait." He said not wanting to see her leave. "We're all supposed to be here until the --- um- prefects come back." He lied. She observed him for a bit and looked around. The Head Boys and Girls from every house were there. She could just ask them if he was telling the truth. "I'm serious."  
  
"Fine. But I'm going to ask Phillip Patil if you're telling the truth. This better not be one of your pranks James." She said before walking towards the Ravenclaw Head Boy.  
  
James tried to think quickly to prevent her from talking to Phillip. He slipped out his wand, pointed towards Lily's pocket, and muttered, "Diffindo". Her pocket ripped open and several objects she had inside dropped out. Her wand, a quill, some galleons and knuts.  
  
While she picked up her items, James approached Phillip and explained his plan to make Lily stay in the compartment. Phillip smiled knowingly and walked over to Lily to help her pick up her fallen objects.  
  
"Oh, I can't believe it! They're new robes!" Lily said examining her pocket. Phillip reached out his hand with some of her belongings. "Thanks Phillip."  
  
"You're welcome Lily. I can fix your pocket if you'd like." He volunteered. They stood up and she took her wand and examined her pocket once more.  
  
"It's okay, I can manage." She pointed at her pocket and said, "reparo". She returned her things into her pocket and saw a smiling Phillip looking at her. "I must look so clumsy."  
  
"Not at all. You could never look clumsy." He gave her a bright smile and she felt her cheeks turn rosy color.  
  
"Umm, you know, actually I wanted to ask you something." She said trying to make the comment go unnoticed. "Have you heard something about us having to stay here until the prefects come back? I mean, I don't remember the Head Boys and Girls last year having to do it."  
  
"Yeah, I think it's a new thing. I have heard that we have to stay. Anyhow, it's not much longer until the prefects come back." He said nonchalant.  
  
They spoke for a little while until they were interrupted by one of his friend's urgency to talk to him. She excused herself and sat down on the closest seat and took out a small book from her pocket. She was annoyed. She didn't want to stay in the compartment. She would rather be sitting with Hannah and Sarah talking about summer and about their respective lives. She also wanted advice on boys.  
  
She had never really been interested in dating, up until the end of last year when she had gotten to know Sirius. She had always seen Sirius in the same light as she had James Potter. They were cocky and conceited; but last year she had seen Sirius change. He no longer picked on people unmercifully. He looked disapprovingly at James when he jinxed other people. He had been nice to Lily and her friends for a while now. Yet the most significant event that had happened to change Lily's mind about Sirius had happened a couple of months before she had left Hogwarts last year. He had rescued Hannah and Lily from a cruel joke, courtesy of Malfoy and Macnair.  
  
The two girls had been walking around the lake when Lucius appeared suddenly before them. He looked at them angrily and began spouting insults at Lily and Hannah.  
  
"I'm surprised at you Hannah Spinnet, hanging around a dirty little mudblood like Evans. See Hannah, things like her are below people like us. You should really mind who you hang around with. I'm sure you've heard about the rising Dark Lord---" He said smugly.  
  
"Get over yourself Malfoy. Things like you and that Dark Lord are what make the world horrible. You should mind who you insult unless you want to wake up with your head through a wall or unless you want me to tell your dearest Narcissa that I saw you making out with Bellatrix." Lily said stepping up to Malfoy.  
  
"You wouldn't dare and she wouldn't believe you." He replied angrily. "Anyways, in a matter of minutes, I believe you won't be doing anything at all."  
  
Everything then happened very quickly. Out of nowhere, two thugs by the names of Crabbe and Goyle came out and before either of Hannah or Lily could take out their wands, they had placed a binding spell on both of the girls. Unable to move, they were reluctantly taken towards the forbidden forest. The boys laughed viciously as they looked around for signs of anyone else.  
  
They were suddenly surprised by the sudden blast of a wand. Whatever the spell was, it sent Lucius flying to the floor, knocking him out. Crabbe and Goyle looked around stupidly and drew out their wands. In a matter of seconds somebody said harshly, "Stupefy!"  
  
In a matter of seconds, Sirius Black had appeared from in between some bushes. Muttered under his breath, "Stupid jerk," pointed his wand towards Hannah and Lily and said, "Finite Incantatem!"  
  
He walked towards them, helping them up asked them if they were okay.  
  
"We're good now. Thank you so much Sirius." Lily had said relieved. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were knocked out just to the side. She was furious, Hannah just looked up at Sirius timidly and smiled. The whole situation was just weird.  
  
"What were they going to do? I mean the whole thing was planned." Hannah said upset.  
  
"I think they just wanted to do something evil. That's how those three are, that's how everyone at Slytherin is like." He said angrily. "I'm glad I saw you guys before they dragged you into the dark forest. Whatever they had planned it couldn't have been nice."  
  
"I- We're glad you were here. Thank you Sirius really. We owe you." Lily said smiling at him fondly.  
  
They had then dragged the three Slytherins a good way into the forest and gone back to the school. Lily had never been so thankful to see any of the Marauders. She thanked Sirius and ever since then she had never failed to give him a smile. She could have even gone as far to say that he wasn't as bad as she thought it was.  
  
During her summer holidays, she had begun to think about him more often than she thought about any other guy. Thinking about Sirius now, for the fifteenth time that day, had made her realize she couldn't deny it any longer. She liked Sirius, in a way she hadn't liked anyone else before. 


	3. News and confessions

Chapter 3  
  
Rating: good quality fun for the whole family.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter or any of the characters are in any of the five books, they all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner bros. and scholastic etc.  
  
Lily's thought were interrupted by the voice of James Potter. He had plopped down next to her and taken her book from her hands.  
  
"What are you reading?" he asked curiously.  
  
"A book, or do you lack common knowledge?" she responded begrudgingly, trying to take the book from his hands.  
  
"A book on defense against the dark arts? I would think you'd have no problem keeping up with the material in class," he joked.  
  
"There are more things to know than what they teach us in a classroom. There's a war brewing in the magical world. Professor Dumbledore has said it himself. Things are not as safe as we might think. We need to prepare ourselves," she said in a serious voice.  
  
Truth was that she hadn't been doing that well in Defense Against the Dark Art classes. She needed to work herself hard to keep up with the class. She wasn't going to admit that to him though; not to someone who did so well in the class. She smacked him on the head so he was surprised and dropped the book. She picked it up hastily and smiled mockingly at him.  
  
"I didn't do anything to you. You didn't have to resort to violence," he said reproaching.  
  
"You took my book. In some places, taking someone else's belongings against their wills is known as stealing, but that must be a hard term for you to understand, isn't it James?" she replied taunting him.  
  
"Well, I believe that's the first time you've bothered to call me by my first name, Lily. Do I sense a change of attitude?" his smug look infuriated her as she quickly rose to the occasion.  
  
"Doesn't anything get through to you? I can't even insult you without you making something out of it," she was suddenly reminded of Sirius's conversation about James earlier. "I also don't appreciate you using a mutual friend to come talk to me about you. You know that I don't care for you. Why do you even bother James! I can't stand you!"  
  
Her frustrated voice was loud and when she finished her little outburst, the rest of the people inside the compartment were eyeing James and her curiously. That did little to cool her temper. She angrily got up from her seat and walked out of the prefect's compartment, giving the order of her having to stay until the prefects got back, very little importance.  
  
She spent the rest of the train ride fuming in the compartment she had been in before with Sarah. Her friends showed up a little bit later and as she had told them what had happened they laughed.  
  
"You have very little patience for him." Hannah said smiling.  
  
"You would too! He never gives it a rest. He's always teasing me! Taunting me! I just find him frustrating. I can't have a moment's peace when he's around," she said, her temper rising up. "And having Sirius come ask me all those questions! I mean, I consider Sirius to be a friend, like Remus Lupin or Frank Longbottom. I wouldn't like them prodding me for opinions on James either, or trying to make me see light. I mean it's just annoying."  
  
"Oh come on Lily. We all know why you're so angry at James. Right now I mean, because otherwise, you just dislike him," Sarah hesitated and looked at Hannah before speaking. "You like Sirius. It's clear as daylight and you're angry that he didn't come in here to inquiry about you because he wanted to know what you thought about Potter, but because Potter wanted to know how you felt about him. Rather, why you hate him so."  
  
Lily wanted to defend herself, but knew she couldn't She had wanted to talk about it with them anyhow. Her silence just confirmed to her friends what they already knew. She did want to defend herself slightly. "I don't hate him."  
  
Hannah grinned and Sarah laughed.  
  
"So you're not denying it?" Hannah asked warily.  
  
"No, I suppose," she looked down at the floor and then at her smiling best friends and smiled back. "I really do like him."  
  
"So aren't you going to go back to the prefect's compartment? We're almost at Hogwarts. I think you might need to go back," Sarah said looking down at her watch.  
  
"You know, we were so caught up in our conversation that I even forgot to say congratulations on making Head Girl Lily. It's really something," Hannah said with a small smile.  
  
"Thank you Hannah. Look before I go back to that hell-hole, I want you to tell me how your summer went. I barely got any post from you, neither did Sarah," she said making herself comfortable in her seat. She was very reluctant to go where she was supposed to go. Besides she felt something was off with Hannah. She was quiet, more so than usual.  
  
"I was trying to keep a low profile. You know that my parents are both Aurors, so they just told me not to send as many owls to my friends. It was just as a precaution. The Dark Lord seems to be gaining a lot of followers and being an Auror isn't exactly the safest job. There's a lot of fear about who to trust in the ministry," her face had paled up a bit as she had spoken. She appeared to have been caught up in a thought.  
  
"Are you okay Hannah? Did-Did something happen?" Sarah inquired hesitantly.  
  
Hannah sat unmoving form her seat. She was fidgeting and playing with her fingers, suddenly very interested in the creases in the palm of her hand. Just went Lily was about to speak, she raised her palm in the faint light of the compartment. "I always looked at the life lines on our hands and saw nothing more than a bunch of superstitions and myths. I never thought life could be so. so delicate. It could all be over, just like that."  
  
Her eyes were filled with tears. Lily and Sarah just looked at each other confused. They waited patiently Hannah to explain her peculiar thoughts.  
  
"My aunt. she got killed and people at the ministry suspect it was one of the Dark Lord's followers. I've been hearing a lot of stuff about them. They don't sound like a pleasant lot either. They call themselves D-death Eaters. I can't help but fear the name. I can't even say the guy's name. it scares me. They found her just lying there, she looked frozen with her eyes looking panicked. Who does that? And to someone like my aunt Nikki." her voice breaking as she spoke. "I just couldn't really say this in letters too, could I? I was very close to her."  
  
Sarah and Lily pulled into a hug. Hannah previous tremor turned into sobbing and they stayed there for a while, comforting their friend until the train came to stop, and they heard people outside walk out of the train. Hannah looked at her friends embarrassed.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm such a drama queen. I'll be alright. Thank you for being here for me," she said wiping her tears away.  
  
"It's alright for you to be upset Hannah. If you need us." Lily said sympathetically.  
  
They walked out of the train quietly. They were strangers to the hustle and bustle of the platform. They could hear from a distance a voice that was calling out to the newcomers. "Firs' years firs' year over here!" they heard a booming voice call among the crowd. Hannah smiled slightly at the site of Hogwart's gamekeeper. The three girls had always appreciated Hagrid for being good company. They regularly visited him at his hut to have tea. They waved happily and he called a 'hello' back to them. They walked off the platform towards the stagecoaches. They boarded the carriage that led to the castle. As the carriage proceeded to be carried up the road to the castle, the school came into view until they were right in front of the big castle doors. All Lily could think as she stepped in to the school was that she was finally back home. 


	4. A little payback

Chapter 4  
  
Rating: good quality fun for the whole family.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter or any of the characters are in any of the five books, they all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner bros. and scholastic etc.  
  
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I encourage anyone to leave me any. They help, they're good motivation. I really like this new part, I hope u guys enjoy it too.  
  
While they waited for the sorting hat to sort the first years, Lily looked up at the staff table. It would indeed be a hard year. She was sure that the rising tension of the Dark Lord was taking its toll on everyone. Since she had first learned about Hogwarts, she had learned that not everything in the magical world was pleasant. There were things; there were people who were evil beyond anything Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, or Macnair had to offer. She knew that, as did everyone else in the room whose family members had suddenly disappeared or had been found dead.  
  
However, that was what made people like the marauders a welcome crowd. They were the ones who provided the tension-relief in the magical school. Lily smiled as she saw James put a lizard on Daya Jonkins' head, who at the sight of the animal, screamed rather loudly; thus interrupting the sorting. Professor Dumbledore had an amused look on his face. Professor McGonagall, however, threw James a warning glance and kept reading the last three names off the list.  
  
It wasn't a surprise that James Potter got away with his jokes. Lily assumed that the teachers found his pranks an amusement and welcome laughter at the knowledge of all the trouble going on outside the safe haven that was Hogwarts. She couldn't say that even though most of his pranks were insulting, they weren't funny. She would've laughed at some of them if she hadn't been aware of the cruelty and shame of some of the jokes. She had been teased and mocked at in the same manner by her sister back in her muggle school. She knew only too well what it was like to be humiliated in front of others. She didn't appreciate it done on other people, even if she wasn't fond of them. Sort of the way she wasn't fond of Snape, Avery, Zabini, or Bulstrode. She never cared much for the Slytherins. She tried to get along with them, at one point she had stood up to James and Sirius on behalf of Sniv- Snape. She couldn't say she liked Snape very much after that; not when he had called her a 'mudblood'. She had stayed clear from his path after that. She occasionally shot a couple of glares in his direction.  
  
She wasn't much for staying quiet when other people tried to talk her down. That's why not a lot of people dared bother her, they respected her.  
  
She had been so distracted in her own thoughts, she hadn't noticed Professor Dumbledore greeting them, "Let the feast begin!"  
  
At his words, food appeared magically on the previously empty plates before them. She looked at the food amazed. She could always be sure to enjoy her meal.  
  
Lily ate heartily, occasionally taking a sip form her goblet. She noted, halfway through her meal, a funny taste in her drink. As she finished her meal, she felt something lump in her throat. Slowly, she felt her throat contract and then a small 'hic' came from her mouth. One minute later, another 'hic' made her way from her throat. Then another and another, until it was every couple of seconds that the sound came from her mouth. She waved at Hannah and Sarah helplessly as her hiccups attack kept going resiliently crippling her ability to speak. Sarah giggled at Lily's hand movements. Hannah just looked hesitant to make any expression appear on her face. Lily looked panicked.  
  
Slowly people began to notice Lily's hiccups and while some were laughing, others just looked curiously at the attack that wouldn't end.  
  
"Ma- hic!- ke- hic!- it- hic!- STOP! HIC!" Lily said to her friends desperately.  
  
She then heard a couple of people laugh a few seats down. It was James and Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin was watching her, trying to keep from smiling. Sirius looked somewhat concerned and she could have sworn she heard him mutter the words, "She's gonna know."  
  
"You Hic! Did- hic!- this! Hic!" She hollered pointing at James.  
  
Her voice carried an exasperated sound. Professor McGonagall had already making her way down from the teacher's table. She headed towards Lily, who was looking at James murderously while continuing her hiccup attack. Lily had already pulled out her wand with the purpose of hexing him but had been unable to put two words together. Sarah and Hannah were doing their best to keep her from actually hexing him, while some people were just trying to get out of her way.  
  
Right before Professor McGonagall reached Lily; she managed to string together some words, "CON-hic-FUN-hic-DO!"  
  
Whether what Lily had intended was for James to start growing fur or not, James instantly had a lush of hair growing all over his body, making his previously bushy and messy hair look almost like a bald spot.  
  
Professor McGonagall was horrified at the sight of James and Lily. One of them hiccupping like crazy, the other with a luscious fur of brown hair covering every part of his skin. They were taken to the infirmary by the furious Professor, who was lecturing them on the proper way of dealing with classmates. Their classmates looked on as they left, almost everyone in the room was laughing.  
  
A young nurse in her mid-20's attended to them. They had known Madam Pomfrey since they had come to Hogwarts. She looked at both children with stern looks. She knew what must've happened. Professor McGonagall explained what little she knew and left them to the care of the nurse.  
  
"Care to explain? I need to know what exactly you have Mr. Potter," she said James. He looked angrily at Lily and scowled.  
  
He appeared to be unable to speak. Lily imagined it must've been his anger. If she hadn't been to busy trying to keep her hiccups down, she would've burst out laughing. She couldn't exactly imagine how she had done that to him. She heard Madam Pomfrey ask her what had happened but as she opened her lips to try to speak, only hiccups erupted from her mouth. She closed it quickly and sat down on the closest bed. James followed suit and sat on the bed furthest from Lily.  
  
"At least I know what's wrong with you," Madam Pomfrey expressed rather annoyed.  
  
She went into another room for a little bit and came out with a small vial that held a red liquid. Handing it Lily she said, "Drink this".  
  
Lily did as she was told and swallowed the red potion. It tasted metallic, but she managed to drink it down. She breathed in an out, smiling at the relief of the having the spasm gone. She then looked at Madam Pomfrey, who was looking at her expectantly.  
  
"Well." she supplied impatiently.  
  
"It was strictly self-defense! He put something in my drink and I started hiccupping like crazy! So I kind of." she had started speaking fast, but had slowed down towards the end, "I'm not sure what I did. I tried to put a Confundus Charm because I was really angry and all of the sudden he started sprouting a coat of fur."  
  
Madam Pomfrey nodded accepting her words and looked James over hastily. Turning towards Lily she said, "Well, then I guess you must've somehow put a fur spell on him. You may go now. I will inform your head of house of what happened."  
  
She looked at James from the corner of her eyes. She could barely see his face, but she imagined he must've looked angry.  
  
She made her way hurriedly to the Gryffindor common room which was almost empty except for a few students who were talking in front of the fire and near the windows. Some of her other friends approached her to ask her what had happened. She explained, now laughing at the fur coat she had put on James. She had gotten kudos from everyone who was there. She had managed to get back at James Potter in a really good way.  
  
"So much for you two ever having a relationship," Sirius Black said from behind her. He smiled at her amused, "I knew he would get caught. I'm glad I wasn't in on it."  
  
"You're lucky I didn't know you were in on it," she said with mock-threat.  
  
"I thought you were too sweet to do anything against anyone. You sure come across like that when you defend everyone against our jokes," he said looking charming as usual.  
  
They both hadn't noticed the way the other girls were looking at them. Some girls looked at Sirius with dreamy looks on their faces, while others looked at Lily with jealousy. The group that had been talking to Lily has dissipated and now they talking in front of the fire. They sat down and continued talking (although in Lily's case it was flirting).  
  
Sirius was enjoying talking with Lily, like he had the year before when they had become friends. Slowly he had felt himself growing fonder and fonder of her. In a sudden moment of what he claimed was lunacy, he caught himself flirting back with the object of his best friend's affection. He was glad James wasn't there to see how close Lily and he had become. 


	5. Between love and hate

Chapter Five  
  
Rating: good quality fun for the whole family.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter or any of the characters are in any of the five books, they all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner bros. and scholastic etc.  
  
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I encourage anyone to leave me any. They help, they're good motivation.  
  
By the time James had gotten back from the infirmary the next day, he had missed half a days' worth of classes. He had to hand it to Lily, she sure had outranked him. Not that she had meant to, but she had. He had intended his prank to be a funny entertainment for the first day back. After all, it was the only way he ever got her to look at him at all. Sure he had been furious at his state the night before, but now, he was throwing caution to the wind and letting the image of her engulf his thoughts. He had never known anyone quite as strong in will as Lily. She really didn't fear retaliation from anyone as obvious by the way she openly expressed her thoughts. She had almost gotten him caught before. He must've guessed she had pitied him or rather them. After all, most of his jokes and mischief were not accomplished alone. It was either Sirius and him, or all the marauders. Except for yesterday. Sirius had downright refused to help James in his plot against Lily. He had given it some thought, but he imagined Sirius just wanted to avoid problems on his first day back. Sirius had after all, since he had arrived to Hogwarts, seen it as his only real home, next to James' house. The fact was that Sirius hated his home, and since last year had walked out of his house, with the purpose of never returning. He couldn't blame him. His family was one who supported, who trusted people like the Dark Lord. Sirius would have nothing to do with that.  
  
So were his thoughts as he headed towards the Gryffindor Common room. He couldn't imagine going to classes, not when he had already missed half of the day. Class wasn't his priority for the day, or ever. He did well in general; his marks were almost the best in his year. In any case, he didn't have his schedule, as he hadn't received it during breakfast like his fellow classmates. He made a note to ask Remus about the classes later. He trusted in Sirius not to pay attention either, or Peter. They were always absent during class, their bodies there, their minds simply gone. Of course, Sirius would do well like always, but Peter would have to struggle to keep up.  
  
He arrived to the common room and launched himself on one of the chairs by the fire. He was trying to think of a way to get through to Evans. He had already told Sirius to keep an eye out for her, but he had come back empty handed. He failed to give James any information on Lily Evans. As a matter of fact, he had failed to tell him anything about her. He began to wonder if he should be concerned, but brushed the thought aside quickly. His best friend, he said to himself, would never try to make a move on a girl he had most adamantly expressed he liked.  
  
When Lily stepped out of the potions' classroom, she felt suddenly relieved at the thought of being out of the dreadful room. She disliked the subject, the dungeon, the teacher, and everything else having to do with it. She did fairly well in the class, but it wasn't particularly because she enjoyed it. She turned to look at Sarah and Hannah, both looking as though they had just been through the worst hour and a half of their lives. It was bad enough that it was obligatory to pass the class during their years previous to their OWLs, but now that they were in NEWT level classes, potions was excruciating.  
  
"It's masochistic, is what it is! I can't believe I'm taking the class, why did I sign up for it in the first place?" Hannah complained as she put her books down at the library table.  
  
"You are in the class so that when you graduate you can become a healer," Lily said mechanically, "Or so you told me to tell you when you complained about it again."  
  
"Right, it was the 'don't-let-me-quit' speech you gave us during fifth year when you made your class schedule, remember?" Sarah offered.  
  
Hannah sighed heavily and nodded in agreement. The girls sat down at the table looking at the class schedule again.  
  
"So now that, that torture is over we have a free amount of thirty minutes until we have to go to transfiguration, lunch, and then I believe we have to part ways. I have Ancient Runes and then to wrap it up, I have Arithmancy. What do you two have?" Lily inquired curiously glancing at the paper in Hannah's hands, who was sitting next to her.  
  
"I have Care of Magical Creatures and then Muggle Studies," Hannah said looking at the paper.  
  
"I have Divination and then I have Muggle Studies with you Hannah," Sarah said offhandedly. Her attention had been drawn away from the subject as she looked at the far end of the library where there were a few kids huddled up secretly.  
  
Lily and Hannah turned to see what she was focusing in but it seemed that the apparent second years saw the girls looking at them and started to warn the others. Lily looked at them suspiciously and frowned. It was too early in the year to have to be watching out for conspiracies.  
  
"Lily." Hannah started warily, "I know what you're thinking. Don't. It's probably nothing."  
  
But it was too late; Lily had already risen from her seat, heading towards the younger kids. She heard Sarah's exasperated sigh from behind her and Hannah's annoyed mutter as they got up reluctantly after her.  
  
"So what might you all be doing this early and in such secretive voices?" Lily voiced as she approached them. She looked extremely suspicious. They in turn looked just rather nervous under her stern gaze.  
  
"W-we were just discussing this thing in Witch Weekly..." a small boy said meekly.  
  
"You don't have to say anything John, we weren't doing anything wrong. You don't need to intimidate us when we were just sitting here discussing a magazine," a slightly proud girl said standing up to Lily.  
  
Lily smirked and eyed the magazine in the middle of the table. Sarah and Hannah exchanged a look from behind Lily and they smiled slightly. They knew only too well what Lily was capable of when she was curious. She was very cunning.  
  
"What's the name of the article?" She asked quickly.  
  
"News on the World Cup," the girl responded just as quickly.  
  
"Oh, I read that," Lily said as-a-matter-of-factly, "Tell me, where will it take place?"  
  
"Sweden," the girl said nervously.  
  
"Who's playing?"  
  
"Bulgaria and-and"  
  
"Peru," another voice contributed.  
  
"When?"  
  
"November."  
  
"What's Venezuela's pet?"  
  
"The Peruvian Dragon." the girl said apprehensively.  
  
"And Bulgaria's?"  
  
"Veelas"  
  
"Have you ever seen them?"  
  
"No"  
  
"Have you ever been to a Quidditch match?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"What were you really doing?"  
  
"Planning a prank on Maki Stevenson," The words had left her mouth before she could stop them. A loud groan erupted from around the table.  
  
Sarah and Hannah looked positively amused. It was Lily's tactics. She got them nervous, asked them a series of questions, and then surprised them with her last one. She took note of the four Hufflepuffs and started asking for their names.  
  
"I'll know if you are lying," she warned them as he summoned a quill and parchment from the table where she had set her books down before.  
  
She saw the disappointed faces as she opened the magazine and smiled at some funny illustrations drawn in a paper hidden inside. She examined the parchment and made out the scheme of the great hall. It seemed that they had been planning on taking Maki Stevenson's belongings from him when he would be eating. They had traced how long they could distract him before he noticed the lump of his bag missing from underneath him. Lily took pity on the kids and stopped writing.  
  
"There's a closet just around the corner from the Great Hall. If you wanted to keep him from noticing the bag gone, didn't you think of wrapping a cloak and putting it where the bag was. That way he would think it was still there and by the time he noticed it gone, you would already be back in your seats," she said drawing the closet onto the map, "But if I do say so myself, this seems unnecessarily simple. It's a disappointing prank."  
  
"You could come up with something better?" the proud girl said smugly.  
  
"She's the one that put fur on James Potter yesterday." Hannah said smiling mischievously.  
  
"Oh, you did that? I didn't realize." The girl said almost apologetically.  
  
"Wow," came the voice of another girl who had stayed quiet up until that point.  
  
"Thank you Hannah, I believe my authority level over these youngsters just came down a notch or two," Lily said becoming annoyed. She didn't like being known as a trouble-maker. Although, she had to admit she got a kick from the fact that she had been one of the few to get the infamous James Potter. "Off with you. I won't say anything to Professor Sprout, but don't tell anyone or I will make sure you all have detention for a month."  
  
With that, the second years quickly made their way to the door. Lily looked at Hannah and Sarah and smiled against her better judgment.  
  
"I'm glad to know you remember what it's like not to be a prefect or a Head Girl," Sarah said smiling.  
  
"I just couldn't give a detention or tell a teacher about such a stupid prank. It was so lame," she said walking back to their table.  
  
"I think it sounds bad because we know some of the best jokers Hogwarts has ever seen," Hannah said grinning at the thought.  
  
"The hiccup sweets were really funny Lils," Sarah said starting to laugh.  
  
"To you! I could barely breathe!" Lily said in mock anger. She knew it was funny. In any case she hadn't been the worst off in the situation.  
  
"And you got to spend some time with your admirer," Hannah said tentatively.  
  
Lily turned to look at her with enormous surprise. Sarah just laughed incredulously at the boldness that was rare in Hannah.  
  
"Was I supposed to enjoy spending time with that git?! He put something in my drink. He put something which almost impeded my breathing. You say it like it was something pleasant to be with someone who willingly poisons your drink!" Lily ranted indignantly.  
  
"You have to admit he's not hard on the eyes though." Sarah said smiling broadly.  
  
"He was covered in fur! How can that be something pleasant to look at?" She said exasperated at her friends behavior. "You know what? It doesn't matter, I know the answer. You both think along the same wavelength as all the other girls in our school. I don't care what anybody says. James Potter is not as good looking and great as everyone makes him out to be."  
  
"No, of course you'd say that. After all, we both know you don't fancy him, you fancy his best friend," Sarah said nonchalantly.  
  
Lily opened her mouth in shock. It was Hannah turn to snigger.  
  
"That was certainly impetuous of someone who won't yet admit she had feelings for Troy Meyers," Lily attacked back.  
  
"So not fair! Low blow Lils," Sarah said looking rather shocked.  
  
"You know, I'm going to put an end to this before you two make us late for transfiguration," Hannah said stepping in between the two girls. She took a sigh grabbed her books and spoke, "Of course Sarah likes Troy. Anyone with eyes can see it so don't try to deny it. As for you Lily, 'there is a fine line between love and hate, and with one simple mistake, that boundary could be crossed'."  
  
She walked out right after she had said the words, leaving Lily and Sarah confused as to what she meant.  
  
As they gathered their things to follow her, Sarah asked abruptly, "Am I really obvious?" 


	6. Behind the hatred

Chapter 6  
  
Rating: good quality fun for the whole family.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't claim to own Harry Potter or any of the characters are in any of the five books, they all belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner bros. and scholastic etc.  
  
Lily didn't see James until the end of the day at the great hall having dinner. She made Sarah and Hannah sit as far away from him as possible, in fear of retaliation. Both Sarah and Lily had asked Hannah to explain her earlier words, but she just sat there, grinning broadly at them and providing them no answers.  
  
"I don't like Troy," Sarah muttered as she looked at the Ravenclaw table where Troy was sitting.  
  
Lily was unsure as to what Hannah had said. It was obvious, of course, whom she had been referring to, but she just didn't want to accept that interpretation. Instead, she looked over at Sirius, who was like always next to James. He had been looking in her direction and had quickly looked away as if to hide his actions. Lily grinned. She really did enjoy being around him. He was funny and nice and good-looking. She realized most of the girls in her year had a thing for Sirius. Just as many girls had a thing for James as well. She didn't like to think they were alike at all. She was perfectly fine thinking of James as an enemy. As someone who was only ever cocky and inconsiderate. She refused to let herself think of him as a normal person, with feelings and who had obviously some good features as to have Sirius defend him so unwaveringly.  
  
"Earth to Lily! Lils, are you done or do you want to stay here staring at your dinner for a little bit longer?" Sarah asked smiling.  
  
"Hmm?" Lily said trying to take in what Sarah had said. "Oh, right. I'm done. Yeah, let's go to the common room."  
  
They headed towards the common room, but halfway there, Lily was held back by Sirius Black. "I need to talk to you," he said nervously. She smiled at her friends and they just grinned and left, walking back in hushed and excited voices.  
  
"So, I would watch out for James. He's not exactly happy about having had a second skin," he said smiling as he said it. He let out a slight chuckle. "I wanted to know to talk with you about-- about classes."  
  
She looked at him confused. He looked nervous again. He ran his hand over his silk-smooth hair, allowing Lily to have a good view of his eyes. He was very nervous indeed.  
  
"About classes?" she asked skeptically. "What about classes?"  
  
"Well, I noticed you and I had the same classes today." he said rather quickly. "I guess I was just wondering what career you were going for."  
  
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure," she said in a soft voice. She wanted to calm him down. Tell him he needn't be so nervous. "I don't want to be a healer, I don't want to work in Muggle studies, and I definitely don't want to be cooped up behind a desk and do paperwork all day. I guess I just want to be involved in something exciting. Maybe I'll become an Auror. I mean, I love the idea of it. Although, I have to say, I do have to work extremely hard to be good at all in my Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. So maybe that wouldn't work out."  
  
"I could help you if you wanted. In Defense Against the Dark Arts I mean. I've done pretty well in most of the classes; it's by far my best subject. I was kind of leaning towards being an Auror myself. I know what you mean about being behind a desk, doing nothing but paperwork. There's nothing I hate more than being cooped up. I don't think I could handle a life of entrapment. I must be a bit claustrophobic."  
  
He smiled at her as he said it. He looked up and down the halls as though expecting someone to come out at any minute. He was notably more relaxed than earlier but still edgy.  
  
"Are you expecting someone?" she asked curiously looking down the halls as well.  
  
"Yeah, my second arm." he muttered annoyed. He looked back at her and smiled, "I just don't want to accidentally run into James right now. I'm sure he'll be wondering where I went off to."  
  
She gave him a confused look.  
  
"Well, you don't like him, do you?" he inquired curiously.  
  
"Not particularly, no," she said scornfully.  
  
He was looking for any signs that she wasn't being truthful. When he didn't find any, his curiosity got the best of him. He needed to ask.  
  
"Lily, why do you dislike him so much? I mean, it really does look like you hate him, but I don't think he's ever done anything to you," he said earnestly.  
  
"I don't hate him. I mean, not really. I think you'd have to be Snape to know what hate really is," she said teasingly. Turning a bit more seriously, she said looking right at Sirius, "He has no sense of what he does to people. I mean, think about it. How do you think it feels to be ridiculed in front of the whole school? To be laughed at, to be whispered about, to have people not be near you because they heard something about you or just because they don't want to be teased at because they know other people will laugh if they knew they were with you. It's really horrible Sirius. It can really lead some people to do horrible things. I-I lost a friend like that. She couldn't handle the pressure of school and she-she killed herself."  
  
Her tone had dropped to a soft and grave voice. It wasn't the type of Lily he was used to seeing. He was afraid to ask if they were the ones responsible. If it had been one of the people they had picked on and they had been too self-involved to notice them gone.  
  
"Was she a friend from here?" Sirius asked bleakly.  
  
"No. A friend from Muggle school. I mean, I did have friends before coming here, you know?" she said giving him a soft smile, "She was very much lonely when I left my old school to come here. People picked on her and well. I really just don't like talking about what happened. She meant a great deal to me and I know it might not be the same for some people as it was for her, but what if it does?"  
  
"I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "I never would've guessed---"  
  
"It's okay, but now you know why. I used to think you were just like James, up until last year," she said giving him a soft look.  
  
"Because I helped you with those Slytherins," he stated somberly, "You know, James isn't how you think he is at all."  
  
"No, sometimes he's worse. I don't want to think that he's like those people in my old school, but all I have to do is look at how he treats people he doesn't like," she said heatedly. Her face managed a slight scowl.  
  
"You see it that way because he's only ever that person when he sees you're in the room. He does it to show off," he said in a profound manner. Watching her face turn a bigger scowl he added, "Mind you, it's not a good way to show off, but it's the only one that's ever worked. To tell you the truth, he just really likes you."  
  
She started walking back towards the common rooms in deep thought so that Sirius was scared to ask what she was thinking. She finally stopped at the stairs turned to him and asked in as a neutral voice she could muster, "Why do you want me to change my mind about him?"  
  
He thought about his answer for a good while before he gave it to her. He considered telling her that it was because James had told him to do it. He quickly disregarded that response. He considered telling her it was because he, Sirius Black, liked Lily and wanted her not to hate his best friend. He wished he could say that, but stayed quiet. At last, he noticed her frowning at his silence. He would say the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
"Because I know what James is like. In all honesty, he's my best friend and the way you see him is not the way he is at all. He's a great friend and he's stuck with me in my best and worst," he said honestly, "You two could hit it off as friends, is all I'm saying."  
  
He smiled at her. She hesitantly took his answer as the truth. She was sure that James had still told Sirius to talk to her for him. She didn't mind talking to Sirius at all; she just wished it wasn't under false pretenses.  
  
They walked to the common room in silence, only ever saying a couple of things to each other. Sirius was processing the conversation. He still hadn't thought about what he'd say to James. He seemed to be the main topic of their conversations. He wasn't too sure he liked it. He looked at Lily from the corner of his eyes. He had thought about it the other night; thought about the possibilities he had with her. Yet, on another hand, he knew how James felt. He had liked Lily since their fourth year. He couldn't really understand why, after all, James had never shared more than two kind words with Lily. How had James seen so quickly, what Sirius after four months' worth of conversations had only begun to see? But that was the thing with James, he seemed to recognize the value in a person, even if they themselves had yet to find it. This only made Sirius feel guiltier about everything. He couldn't explore his chances with Lily, not after all James had done for him.  
  
Lily, on the other hand, thought that maybe telling Sirius about her friend Jamie had been a mistake. She didn't really talk about Jamie, but felt that under the circumstances, it would teach Sirius a thing or two. Even if he did tell James, maybe it would have a positive effect on him. Maybe then he'd realize what he did to people.  
  
When they reached the common room, which was almost empty, Lily turned to Sirius and said in a whisper, "Just for the record, I don't think you are a bully. Not anymore."  
  
She gave him a small smile before she walked up the stairs to her dormitory. Sirius watched her leave and turned to walk up to his own dormitory. Once he opened the door, he was greeted by James, who gave him a smile and asked, "Where were you? You disappeared midway through dinner."  
  
"No where. I was just walking around." 


	7. Overthinking

Chapter 7  
  
A/N: This took me forever to write. I had to: write it, then write it again and then erase it and write it again. I hope you guys like it. I tried to take reviews into account. I don't know, tell me what you think!!! Pyromaniacal Llama: I know what you mean about the fast updates, I'm an avid fanfic reader myself, so I try to update as soon as I'm done. I think it's kinda tipped off by my vast amount of mistakes ( Thanks for the support So here's number seven hope u like it. R/R please :D Thanx for the reviews everyone. I'm really grateful for them. Special thanx to my beta, gigi, thank you so much for taking a look at this!  
  
The first weeks of school passed rather quickly. It seemed that all their teachers were determined to work them hard as to prepare them for the NEWTs. Complaints could be heard from everyone in the seventh year, about the strenuous amount of work.  
  
The pressure had even gotten to Lily, who was usually unaffected by the stress provided by classes. That however, was mostly due to the fact that she did well in her classes, up until this year. She was facing one of the most difficult times ever in her DADA classes. She had considered taking Sirius up on the help offer he had given Lily. Yet, every time she wanted to approach him, she reminded herself that they hadn't spoken much since the night after their first classes. It seemed almost impossible now to bring something like that up. On the most part it seemed as though he were avoiding her. To be honest, she imagined that sharing that memory of her old best friend might've been too much for him to handle. Lily imagined he must've felt awkward, or accused. Why wouldn't it sound as though she were accusing him? She had clearly pointed out that behavior like the one he used to take part in was wrong in her book. The more she thought about it, the worse she felt. She grew even more reluctant to talk to him now, after having exhausted the topic in her mind. The prospect of asking him to tutor her was out of the question now. She didn't deny that being with Sirius for a prolonged amount of time, would have been more about quality time with him, rather than actual focusing on her classes.  
  
If only, she thought, she had considered the situation before she would've tried to get him to speak to her. She would've apologized for having said anything about Jamie at all, for making him feel bad. It was weird for her to actually think that way at all. She didn't often apologize to anyone. It was one of her greatest flaws, her mother had said. She was too proud to admit when she had made a mistake. As a matter of fact, she liked to think that she had studied and worked hard enough not to make many mistakes. But that was a wrong presumption and she knew it. Not only towards life, but especially concerning the opposite sex. Who was she to say she was right all the time? She knew that posed a wrong image to people around her. Sarah and Hannah didn't bother discussing something Lily thought she was right about. She was too stubborn. Yet, it felt easy to say she might've been wrong to share something so personal with Sirius. She came down with a resolution then, she would apologize.  
  
'For having been open?' a voice said arrogantly. 'You were being honest.'  
  
'For accusing him." another voice added. "I think."  
  
'My mistakes will come back to haunt me,' she thought wryly.  
  
***  
  
"Ever had that overwhelming feeling after you over think things?" she asked as she flopped down next to Hannah for lunch in the Great Hall. "I mean, really over thinking something, to the point where you think everything you've said and done is a mistake?"  
  
"Yes and wow, you have a lot on your mind. You admitting you've made a mistake, doesn't actually sound right. Where's my best friend and what have you done with her?" Hannah asked smiling.  
  
"I do make mistakes. There, I admit it," she proclaimed. "Is it really that weird? Me, admitting I've done something wrong?"  
  
"What's wrong Lily?" she said ignoring her question. "What's with the over thinking bit?"  
  
"Nice dodging! And where's Sarah? And have you seen the sky today?" she said mockingly. She sighed frustrated and looked at her longtime friend. "I was just thinking about Sirius."  
  
She said the last part in a whisper as to not let anyone else hear them speaking about him. Her friend only supplied her with a wide-eyed look and smiled.  
  
"Well?" she said after being quiet for a while. "Did you talk to him?"  
  
Hannah was obviously eager to hear about Sirius.  
  
"No, not really. I just. I was thinking about the conversation I had with him-" She started.  
  
"You mean the one you had almost a month ago," she said disbelievingly. "Had you given it any thought at all up until now?"  
  
"Well, not really. I just saw him in DADA class and I started thinking. I mean, I didn't hear a word Professor Munin said all throughout the class. Mind you, it wasn't particularly interesting, and I don't think it really matters considering I'm doing so badly in the class, but still." she said hastily. "I don't know. It just hit me, that maybe he felt that I was accusing him or something. That maybe, that's why he's been avoiding me."  
  
"Talk about paranoid. Lily, you're going to drive yourself crazy. I think he just probably just has too much to do. Why don't you try talking to him?" Hannah said soothingly. She had never seen Lily act so oddly, especially about a guy.  
  
"I don't know. I don't think-" she started hesitantly.  
  
"You should talk to him!" Hannah exclaimed encouragingly. "You really should!"  
  
"Yeah, you should!" Sarah said excitedly as she sat next to Hannah. "What are we talking about?"  
  
Lily and Hannah rolled their eyes at their friend's attitude. She looked slightly disheveled as she leaned in to take food out of Hannah's plate. Other girls were looking at her curiously. Just as Lily and Hannah were about to question her appearance, Daya Jonkins and Aurora Thompson, their other roommates, looked over at Sarah and approached her smiling.  
  
"Sarah, I heard you were getting in trouble over by the dungeons just a little bit ago," Daya said grinning broadly.  
  
"What happened?" Hannah asked looking at the other two girls then looking at Sarah's thin-lipped smile. "You look like you're hiding something."  
  
"Well, Bastian said he had seen you snogging some Ravenclaw just down the hall from Potions. Said something about how no one ever goes there." Aurora said suggestively.  
  
Hannah and Lily looked at Sarah wide-eyed. Their questioning gazes were ignored as Sarah desperately tried to ignore her friends' looks. She smoothed her hair out and flattened her robes distractedly. She heard Lily clear her throat, but still refused to look at her friends. She smiled devilishly and blushed furiously while Daya and Aurora told Hannah and Lily about Sarah's little adventure.  
  
"So from what I hear, our little Sarah here skipped divination last week and today's DADA to be with the mysterious Ravenclaw," said a smiling Aurora.  
  
"Ah, but actually, I believe I also heard that when she skipped divination last week, she was seen with a Hufflepuff. Seems Sarah, here, has been getting around," Daya added grinning.  
  
"Don't talk about me like I'm some little harlot or something!" Sarah said appalled. "And how did you two come by this information, may I ask?"  
  
"Alas, she speaks!" Lily said amused.  
  
"Well, apparently she does more than speaks, we should ask some of the Ravenclaws." Hannah said laughing.  
  
"Or the Hufflepuffs." Daya piped in.  
  
"Oh stop it!" Sarah exclaimed embarrassedly. "Who told you this?"  
  
"Bastian, you might have met him, he's in our year," Daya said in a sarcastic tone.  
  
"Besides Bastian," Sarah said slightly annoyed.  
  
"Some little third years were talking about this 'cool seventh year that was making out with one of the cutest guys available'," Aurora said smiling gleefully.  
  
"Some kids! I need to start learning those little kids' names if I want to tell them not to tell on me!" she muttered looking down the table.  
  
"So are you going to tell us who these boys are?" Lily asked amused.  
  
"They're just boys. They don't mean a thing. I just didn't want to say anything about them. They're not that interesting." Sarah said dismissively.  
  
Sarah wouldn't comment on her encounters. She would dismiss the questions. They spent a few more minutes like that until the bell rung. Daya and Aurora left towards their class, while the other three girls took their time gathering their things before leaving the table.  
  
"Will you tell us now?" Lily asked smiling.  
  
"Not now! We have class now. I'll tell you in the safety of our dormitory later alright!" she said looking abashed. "And p.s.: word here travels fast."  
  
They teased her all the way to Charms, then when they walked towards the library to work after class, continued on the way to dinner, and throughout all their time at the common room. By the end of the day, Sarah refused obstinately to give up any information about her wanderings. They spent days bugging her about it and she remained lip-sealed.  
  
It was a relief to Lily, who hadn't been thinking about Sirius at all since every time she got together with her friends. They would begin to bother Sarah, which helped her push the Sirius-issue to the back of her mind.  
  
Yet it was hard to do it in the classes she had with him. It was kind of hard to ignore the fact that he was in those classes since the marauders always did their pranks. They weren't what you called invisible.  
  
So she sat in DADA classroom on Tuesday after break, just as class was beginning. Her mind lingered on the possibility to approach Sirius to attempt conversation, when she was brought into reality by the teacher, Professor Munin. He called her over to his desk with a smile. He looked at her with a sympathetic look and began to speak.  
  
"Lily, I know you generally work hard in your classes to excel, but I'm sorry to tell you, I think you might need some help in this class," he sighed and pulled papers from a folder on his desk, "On our work with several of the spells against some of the creatures we studied the last month, well, I have to say that you need a lot of work. I want to give you a chance to bring your grade up, as I do with most of the people who don't do as well. I can arrange for someone to help you out if you'd like. I highly recommend it."  
  
He looked at her expectantly and waited for her response.  
  
"Yeah, that would be great. I was trying to look into getting tutoring, it's just that with all the workload, I've had very little free time," she said thinking her problem was solved. "Who would you recommend?"  
  
"Well Lily, I'd have to look around to see who is willing, but I will let you know by the end of the week," he smiled at her and let her walk to her desk.  
  
She was relieved about the fact that in the end she wouldn't have to ask Sirius for help. Then again talking to him for any other reason would be rather awkward. She was distracted for most of class thinking about the things she had talked about with Sirius. It felt so uncharacteristic of her to suddenly ignore a whole class to think about boys. No, not boys. a boy. She could feel her memory tracing back the moments she had spent talking to him. She suddenly felt a feeling of longing rush through her. She did enjoy speaking to him, but not having done so in almost a month seemed now ridiculous. She didn't really even have a reason for not talking to him, sort of.  
  
'I can't over think it.' she thought self-assuredly. 'Carpe diem.'  
  
She straightened up just as the bell rang. She was determined to talk to him now. She got up from her seat eyeing him as he left the classroom in the company of James, Remus, and Peter. 


	8. Always getting in trouble

Chapter 8  
  
A/N: I've been getting reviews a lot more often: I luv it!!! I'm glad you guys like the story. This part is so fickle I hope it's to ur satisfaction. There's just one thing I want you guys to remember when you read it: people always change their minds.  
  
Kat: Thanks. I have been planning on doing a fic for so long, I've planned out what I want to happen, but I'm writing it as I go along. I'm taking these reviews into account. I wasn't sure about the head boy and girls things, but sure, one boy and one girl sounds fine. I mean, it's not a big part of it anyhow. It was just a thing. I'm glad that you called me on it. I really do want all types of criticism, that's what helps a writer improve.  
  
"Sirius," she called after the four boys walking up the stairs away from the dungeons. "Sirius, can we talk?"  
  
He looked back at her and nodded, excused himself from his friends' company and walked down the stairs to talk with Lily. She waited until people had cleared the hall until she began to speak.  
  
"On the risk of missing lunch, I just wanted to ask you if everything was okay between us." she said hesitantly.  
  
He examined her expression for a moment and said nonchalant, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"  
  
"It's just that you've kind of seemed to be avoiding me a little, for the past few weeks I mean," she said trying to avoid his eyes.  
  
He felt a wave of regret suddenly wash over him. He had tried to make his life easier. James wouldn't ask him about Lily, if he and Lily didn't speak. He hadn't really considered what she would make of it. He looked at her carefully; he had missed talking to her too.  
  
"I had a lot of problems the last couple of weeks, what with the whole filibusters and dungbombs lose in the great hall during dinner." he lied grinning, hoping to convince her that he wasn't avoiding her. "But really, I haven't been avoiding you. Come on, why don't we skip lunch and you can fill me in on what you've been doing?"  
  
"Are you serious?" she asked trying to hide her excitement.  
  
"About lunch? Yeah, I know how we can get food later," he said casually.  
  
"No, not about lunch," she said smiling. She looked down and then faced him seriously. "I mean about the avoiding thing. Because, I get it, you know? I get it if you don't wanna talk to me. I can be a pain sometimes."  
  
"I think you're great," he said immediately. "I don't know how you can stand me."  
  
She blushed as he smiled at her happily. He reached out his hand to take hers.  
  
"Neither do I. Last week, that was you guys with the dungbombs? I was nearby. Professor McGonagall didn't look happy," she smiled as she took his hand.  
  
He gave her a huge mischievous grin and suddenly burst into a run, dragging her along with him. He led her up the stairs and out to the big oak doors leading to the grounds. When he finally stopped, she gave him a wide-eyed look and tried to speak. She was completely out of breath. She looked around as she tried to get some air in her lungs, there was barely anyone outside. She imagined everyone was in the hall having lunch. She looked back at Sirius to find him looking intently at her.  
  
"What? You made me run all through that, I needed to catch my breath," she said smiling at him.  
  
"I was actually just thinking. You really stand out. I mean because of your hair. You look beautiful," he had a goofy smile as he said it.  
  
He was about to step in closer when they heard a blast coming from inside the castle. Suddenly, they saw a figure drop down the stairs. Lily stepped closer to see who the shape was. A messy, dark-haired boy got up hastily and drew his wand quickly.  
  
"James?!" Sirius called out quizzically.  
  
Just then James called out a spell they didn't hear. They couldn't see the attacker but they ran closer to James when unexpectedly, Remus and Peter tumbled out of the castle as well. They got to their feet hurriedly, only to be joined by Lily and Sirius. They had pulled out their wands and were looking at the door warily. Coming through it were Zabini, Goyle, Crabbe, and Severus Snape; all pointing their wands at the group with scowls on their faces.  
  
"What happened?" Sirius asked his eyes fixed on the angry Slytherins.  
  
"Well." Remus said with a smirk.  
  
"Let's just say that Snivellus and his little buddies over there weren't exactly waiting to welcome us into the Great Hall when we went to get lunch," James said shooting daggers at Snape.  
  
"Someone just please explain!" Lily said frustrated weighing out their chances to bring down the three really big Slytherins (without counting Snape of course).  
  
"We came into the hall and were hit by a really nasty spell, that well, had us talking like animals momentarily. We saw these gits laughing and-"  
  
Before Remus could finish his sentence, Snape threw a jinx that made him fall to the floor. James then called out "expelliarmus" and missed Snape, but saw Goyle's wand shoot down the stairs. The boy looked around stupidly and ran back inside the castle. Remus got up unsteadily holding his face in his hands.  
  
"Remus? Are you okay?" James asked worriedly looking at his friend.  
  
Remus muttered an okay from beneath his hands and looked at Snape angrily. Lily walked closer to where Remus and Peter where standing. She hazarded a look at Remus gasped and looked back with a furious look at a smiling Snape.  
  
Lily gazed steadily with her eyes examining Snape's moves and suddenly and rapidly called out, "Stupefy!"  
  
She yelled it once and before the other two bullies could throw any jinxes at her, pulled Remus and Peter (who was shaking and looked too weak to actually do anything) quickly out of the way. She watched from where she had fallen next to the two boys as James and Sirius took advantage of Zabini's and Crabbe's shocked expression and aims at Lily, to disarm both Slytherins before they could jinx Lily and the others. The two ran in the castle and were out of sight before anyone could make another move.  
  
Sighs of relief could be heard from the five Gryffindors. James moved quickly to help his friends off the ground. Remus refused the help and got up slowly. Lily looked at Remus, who tried to still hide his face from everyone. She smiled benevolently and put a hand on his back.  
  
"Let's take you to the infirmary," she said as they started to walk up the stairs. She picked up the wands where they had fallen at the beginning of the stairs as they walked inside and threw them down to James.  
  
"Go tell Profesor McGonagall what happened," she said smiling. "I think they'll finally get what they deserve."  
  
"I wouldn't be too sure, I don't think she'll believe any of us," he said worriedly.  
  
"She'll believe me," she said walking alongside Remus.  
  
She eyed the body of Snape with disgust as they passed him lying at the entrance of the castle. Once Lily was out of earshot, James looked over at Sirius smiled.  
  
"I think that's the first time she has ever been so nice to me," he said glowing.  
  
"Yeah," Sirius said less excited. He looked over at his friend and saw blood trickling down his robes. "Hey, what happened to you there?"  
  
"I must've cut myself in the fall," James said looking for the source of the blood. He found a deep gash on his shoulder and looked disgusted at the top of the stairs. "I'm gonna be happy when he gets two weeks worth of detentions."  
  
"I think you should go to the infirmary. That cut looks nasty," Sirius said looking at his friend's injury. "I'll go talk to McGonagall. I'm surprised she didn't come out with all the racket."  
  
"Thanks," he said looking around.  
  
He headed up the stairs addressing Peter as he walked up the stairs to ask if he was okay. Peter nodded and walked over to Sirius.  
  
"Thanks for the cover," Peter said to a distracted Sirius.  
  
"You're welcome," he replied offhandedly. He gave Peter a weak smile and started for the stairs. "We better go tell McGonagall what happened."  
  
Peter followed after him. Sirius ripped Snape's wand from his grip and headed towards the Great Hall, all along thinking how he wished he hadn't sent James to the infirmary with Lily there.  
  
***  
  
Lily and Remus had been in the infirmary long enough for Madam Pomfrey to start muttering madly at them for getting into a quarrel with the Slytherins. Lily had explained the events and Madam Pomfrey had put a face of horror when she saw Remus face which appeared to have grown a snout. She had been searching like crazy around her cupboard and ransacked her desk to find a potion to cure Remus. Still, when the snout was gone, she insisted on keeping him at least until dinner to make sure that he was completely okay. James had arrived midway through the examination. Madam pomfrey had instructed him to sit down while she took remus to a bed where she insisted he lay down and let her make sure she cured the cuts and bruises he had gotten in his fall. Lily turned to look at James and gave him a quizzical look.  
  
"What happened? Did you go to McGonagall?" she asked plainly.  
  
"No, Sirius said he'd go instead of me. I have this cut. He said he'd take of talking to McGonagall while I got patched up. Besides, he's got a bigger credibility factor with her than me."  
  
"Where's the cut?" she asked concerned.  
  
He pointed towards his left shoulder. She looked at the gash and winced. She walked over to Madam Pomfrey's desk and got some cotton from the top of the desk and soaked the cotton with water from a glass of water standing on the corner of the desk. She walked back over to James and hesitated.  
  
"Is it alright if I clean it? I'm no healer, but I know a bit about muggle first aid," she said waiting for permission to trespass his personal bubble.  
  
"Yeah, sure," he said looking somewhat surprised.  
  
She rid up his robe sleeve and started cleaning the wound with the cotton. Blood was still coming out of the cut and she walked over to pick up more cotton to keep the blood from coming out. During all of the process, James couldn't help looking at her amazedly. She didn't like him; in fact, at moments she seemed to hate him. Yet, there she was, tending to his wound. He couldn't even feel any pain as he admired her, looking concentrated on his injury. He didn't even notice when she had completely stopped and was now looking at him apprehensively.  
  
"Are you okay?" she said hesitantly. "Does it hurt?"  
  
He snapped out of his trance and looked at the cut. He felt a little sharp pain come from it now and winced a bit.  
  
"Only a bit. Thanks," he said looking straight into her green eyes. 'Beautifully green eyes' a voice said inside him. He could feel a smile drawing on his lips. What surprised him was that she smiled back.  
  
"Glad to help," she said, all thoughts that she usually hated James Potter out of her head. 


	9. Paper conversations

Chapter 9  
  
A/N: Okay, so I'm glad you guys liked the last part. I got a lot of responses about it. Thank you so much for the reviews everyone. I'm really hoping this part is okay. You guys have to let me know if you're not satisfied with it.  
  
They looked at each other for a while until they heard a clutter from where Madam Pomfrey had taken Remus.  
  
"I'm FINE!" they heard Remus say angrily at Madam Pomfrey. They heard the words 'nonsense' being muttered and they smiled.  
  
"Looks like she's being rough on him," James said with a small chuckle.  
  
"She can overreact sometimes. I came for a cold last week and she had me drink two really yucky potions and had me lay down for an hour," Lily said smiling back at him.  
  
"When I came in because of the fur spell during the feast she had me in for half the next day. Took me an hour to convince her to let me leave," he said offhandedly.  
  
He regretted making the comment. Her smile faded and she turned serious within moments. She handed him the cotton and looked at him regrettably.  
  
"I should go talk to professor McGonagall, I think Sirius might need my help convincing her. You should keep pressure on your wound until Madam Pomfrey remembers she's supposed to tend to you," she said trying to smile. "Bye James."  
  
"Bye," he said sadly.  
  
***  
  
Lily was greeted at the Great Hall by the commotion of the students gathered in a circle around Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore, Sirius, and a very awake and angry Snape; all in heated discussion, almost. Professor Dumbledore just stood there listening, to another person he was serious, but as Lily examined him, he had a glint in his eyes that seemed he was laughing internally.  
  
"Ah! Miss Evans, I believe we are in need of your assistance," Professor Dumbledore said acknowledging her presence. People started moving out of her way to let her move towards the group. "Now, perhaps we should move towards a. less crowded area."  
  
He looked amused as he said it, but he led the other four to the antechamber at the end of the Great Hall. When they arrived there, he summoned up chairs for them to sit.  
  
"Will you all explain yourselves!?" Professor McGonagall said outraged.  
  
At once the voices of Sirius and Snape could be heard retelling the events in angry frustrated voices.  
  
"He jinxed us!"  
  
"Only because you tried jinxing us!"  
  
"You had nothing to do with the fight Black!"  
  
"Sni- Snape launched my friends out of the Great Hall! Tell me how it didn't involve me?"  
  
"You got in the fight on your own!"  
  
"I wasn't going to let you jinx them!"  
  
"It's your own fault something happened to you!"  
  
"STOP! Would you two please stop arguing! Now, since either of you won't let each other talk, I will ask Miss Evans to explain what happened," Professor McGonagall said frustrated. She gave the boys a pointed look and turned to look at Lily. "Well Miss Evans, explain."  
  
"Sirius and I were talking outside of the Great Hall when we saw James Potter falling down the stairs from the main oak door. We rushed to see if he was okay, when Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin came flying out of the castle too. They fell down the stairs and landed right before us. Sirius and I got closer to see if they were okay when Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, and Snape came out at the top of the stairs. Snape threw a jinx at Remus--" she said looking directly at both professors until she was interrupted by Snape's objections.  
  
"I assure you-" he started shooting daggers at Lily.  
  
"I think Severus, that it would be best for you to allow Lily to continue before you make any corrections," Professor Dumbledore said calmly.  
  
"But Professor-" Snape started again.  
  
"Mr. Snape, if you do not stay quiet then I will make you," Professor McGonagall said pointedly. "Go on Miss Evans."  
  
"Well, as I was saying, Severus hit Remus with a jinx that made him grow a snout-" she said being disrupted again.  
  
"I did no-" before Snape could finish his sentence Professor McGonagall pointed her wand angrily at him and before he could say another word said, "silencio!"  
  
His voice died out, although he was still moving his lips. Sirius almost burst out laughing until he saw Professor McGonagall. She was just looking for an excuse to punish. He just sat still and avoided looking at her. Instead he fixed his eyes on Lily, who had now again resumed the tale. She made Remus' snout sound like a horrible crime. She explained calmly how she had knocked out Snape, how James and Sirius had disarmed Crabbe and Zabini and how she had taken Remus to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey was taking care of him now. She told them how James had arrived to the infirmary short there after she and Remus had arrived. Professor McGonagall just sat in her chair thoughtfully. Professor Dumbledore seemed sort of distracted.  
  
Finally, Professor Dumbledore spoke, "Well, it seems to me that you were only protecting yourself. We have still no account what happened before Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew flew out of the castle, but as far as I'm concerned Miss Evans, you and Mr. Black are free to go."  
  
Professor McGonagall nodded in approval. Snape waved madly to get the teacher's attention, only to receive an angry look.  
  
"Mr. Snape, I think I'd believe a prior prefect (I don't think she's considered prefect after she turns head girl) and Head Girl more than I'd trust the word of a student who just got detention two weeks ago for jinxing another student's quill to spill all over their clothes," she said looking at Snape annoyed. She turned to Lily and Sirius who were still seated in their respective chairs with smiles as Snape got told off. "Go on you two, unless you want detentions as well."  
  
They got up quickly and made their way to the door as Dumbledore turned to look at Professor McGonagall, "I believe, Minerva, that we should call Professor Hydra to come in and tell Severus what his punishment will be. I will have Mr. Filch look around for the other three boys."  
  
***  
  
Sirius and Lily stepped out of the room, only to be greeted by a group of excited students who were eager to hear the recount of the events that had happened nearly an hour ago. Sarah and Hannah approached Lily with amazed faces, telling their friend what they had heard.  
  
"A couple of Hufflepuffs told me they saw you and Sirius run towards the entrance, where James was fighting off four Slytherins. That suddenly Peter and Remus came out of nowhere and all of you charged against the Slytherins." Hannah said excitedly.  
  
"I heard that our sweet and innocent Lily knocked out two of them with a single spell!" Sarah said looking positively pleased.  
  
"Oh now! Rumors fly like wild fire! It seems like I am an army all by myself!" Lily said wide-eyed. She turned to look at Sirius who was telling everyone he didn't know how the fight had started but it ended with the four Slytherins regretting ever having messed with the marauders. and Lily.  
  
He glowered on Lily's actions, saying how it was one of the most impressive uses of the 'stupefy' spell he had ever seen performed. Someone piped in to say he probably hadn't seen many and Sirius just blushed. Lily nudged him slightly, smiling at him.  
  
They were finally driven away from their crowd by the bell signaling the end of their lunch hour, which meant Lily and her friends needed to get to History of Magic. Sirius walked with them to class, sat next to Lily during lesson with the excuse that two of his friends were still in the infirmary and the other appeared to be missing. He had started talking in whispers with a hesitant Lily, but had then resorted to paper conversations with her after Professor Binns glared at them for talking.  
  
*How was Remus?* he wrote on a blank parchment. He pushed the paper over to her and smiled.  
  
*Okay, I know it seems unnecessary to you, but I do have to work to keep my grades. He already told us to be quiet. Besides, the Giant Wars are actually interesting,* she wrote underlining the word 'work'.  
  
She pushed the paper towards him and listened for a while to Professor Binns while Sirius wrote on the parchment. She could feel her eyelids begin to droop as she unwillingly wrote down notes. She had almost dozed off when Sirius tapped her again.  
  
*You're falling asleep anyhow and we are not talking. Come on Lily, please. I just want to know how my friend is doing. Snivellus didn't manage to make any lasting damage did he? I'll bust his face myself!* she read to herself. She noticed a little p.s. a line down. *By the way, you're going to have to tell me how you managed that spell. It's not exactly an easy one to do. I mean, we're not supposed to use it. As student I mean.*  
  
She turned to give him a look. She mouthed the words 'not sleeping' and began to write on the parchment.  
  
*He was fine. Actually, I think Madam Pomfrey changed him back before I came down but she insisted on making him rest. James and I-* she stopped midway through the sentence. Sirius, once aware that she had stopped writing, attempted to take the parchment. She shook her head and looked again at the sentence she was about to write.  
  
'We had a moment,' a voice said in her mind. 'A moment where I thought he was nice and a good friend. Because the truth is that he is a good friend, a good person.'  
  
She tried to shake the feeling off, but the way his eyes had looked so disappointed when she had said she had to leave haunted her for a moment. It hadn't been a moment where he had been taunting her; it hadn't been a trying-to-prove-that-he-could-get-the-girl-in-front-of-everyone moment, but a serious and disappointed I-don't-want-you-to-leave moment.  
  
She felt Sirius nudge her again to finish the sentence. She had to re-read her own message twice to remember her tread of thought.  
  
*James and I listened in to their little argument. She tried to give him check him over and he refused profoundly. I left before she could look into James' wound. I did help him clean it though. You should be proud, I finally had a decent conversation with your best friend.*  
  
She passed it to him and propped her head on her hands, watching Sirius as he read her message. He was very handsome, even without attempting it. He didn't have to smile in her direction for her to see it. But he did and she found that rewarding. She liked him, there was no doubt about it in her mind. Yet, she could hear Hannah's words about love and hate resonating in her mind. She wasn't stupid; she just hadn't wanted to accept it. Hannah had been referring to James. She wanted to drive the idea out of her mind. She found herself just looking out of the window, still deep in thought, waiting for Sirius' reply.  
  
He read her message, his gaze fixed intently on the last sentence. *I'm glad,* he wrote sincerely. 'But I kinda just want you for me.'  
  
His mind was racing with potential jealousy. He feared that which he knew deep in his heart of hearts. Lily and James had a lot in common; he was surprised Lily didn't see that. Yet she might, and the thought of that was something he wasn't ready to handle. He knew Lily liked him. He liked her too, he would give up anything to be with her; almost anything. He wasn't ready to throw away 17 years of friendship for a fleeting crush. That's what he hoped Lily was to him. He wanted to ignore that every time he got near, he felt nervous and clumsy. He wanted to ignore that she made him feel like he could be a better person.  
  
He thought about the possibilities. 'James would understand,' he said to himself. Or so he tried to convince himself. He argued in his mind that once James knew, once he saw how much he cared for Lily, he would be okay about it. He kept repeating it as he wrote the next lines on the parchment. He poked Lily slightly, pulling her from her thoughts and pushed the parchment towards her.  
  
She read the paper and smiled brightly.  
  
"I'd love to!" she said loudly. 


	10. The spellbound kiss

Chapter 10  
  
A/N: Okay, this is the longest chapter yet. I'm a little hesitant about it, just for the record. But I hope you guys like it. I wanted to get my beta on it but I haven't been able to reach her and I'm desperate to post.  
  
Kat: Keep it coming. I really wanna make this fanfic good. I try to bring Peter and Remus out a little bit more in this part, but I tried not to have them too much all of the sudden, this is what came out. I really wish I could try to make Peter slightly nice or so that we'd be sympathetic for him but I just read PA again. It's kinda hard to feel bad about him after reading that one.  
  
Good reading everyone!  
  
Lily had managed to earn herself a detention as a result of her outburst. Professor Binns had gotten upset to say the least. He had experienced distractions in the classroom as a result of the marauders. Suffice to say, he actually had learned the four boys' names as a result of the amount of detentions they had been given, but when he was about give Lily her detention he also asked her for her name. She had wanted to laugh about it, but knew not to. The rest of the class just looked around confused before falling back asleep. Sarah and Hannah, who had been sitting next to her, were shocked as well as confused. For one, they didn't know what had happened as they had drifted off themselves. On another part, they were shocked that their perfect friend had gotten a detention and wasn't upset about it at all. They gave her several furtive questioning glances, but she just mouthed the words 'tell you about it later' as she turned to write on a piece of parchment.  
  
By the end of class, Lily was told she would have to serve her detention with Professor McGonagall. She accepted the punishment and walked outside the room only to be surprised by her friends.  
  
"What happened?" both girls said at a smiling Lily. "Why do you look so happy? You just got a detention."  
  
"Well," she started. She pulled a piece of parchment from within a book and handed it to her friends. "Here, read at the end."  
  
"He asked you out?" Sarah asked excitedly as she finished reading. "I can see why you don't mind getting a detention now…"  
  
"That's great Lils! This weekend!" Hannah said smiling. "But at what cost! So when is your detention?"  
  
"I have to ask Professor McGonagall," Lily said still unable to take the grin off her face.  
  
***  
  
As Sirius walked out of History of Magic that day he wrote goodbye to Lily under his plans to go to Hogsmeade that weekend. He smiled as she stayed behind to receive her detention. She seemed positively casual about the punishment. He walked outside absentmindedly, didn't even notice that Peter was talking next to him.  
  
"---Potion has been extremely horrible and I don't think I'll get on well this year. I'll probably do just as bad in Charms! Sirius, are you listening?" Peter asked poking Sirius and snapping him into attention.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked dazed.  
  
"Nevermind. Are we going to go visit Remus and James? We might as well go now, you won't be seeing us later," Peter said bitterly.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sirius inquired curiously.  
  
"Well, Professor McGonagall gave us detention today and tomorrow for not stopping the fight before it got out of hand. She took five points from each of us, but then again, she gave you and Lily thirty points for saving us," he said while walking towards the hospital wing. "So anyhow, we're serving detention with the old bat tonight at seven."  
  
They arrived to the hospital wing and Sirius entered looking almost nauseous. He needed to tell James he had asked Lily Evans out. He needed to tell him before he heard it from someone else. Yet, as James greeted him happily and pushed him and Peter towards the bed were Remus had been instructed to lie down for hours, he smiled despite himself.  
  
"Always like us to get in trouble," he said laughing.  
  
"It's usually you and James!" Remus said from his bed. "But somebody needed to defend this git since you decided to become friends with Lily."  
  
"Well, you know how she is, always in need of a good talk," he tried to cover up jokingly.  
  
"They talk about homework and classes. Aurora told me what you two talk about… let me see how she put it, 'meaningful conversations only true friends share'," James teased. "Yet you fail to provide me with the help I need to get her on my good side."  
  
"I would think it's pretty obvious," Remus observed. "She's only been telling you she thinks you're a bit full of yourself for about what three or four years."  
  
The group laughed at his comment, while James looked at the other boys sulking. "Laugh all you want but just when I came in here with my cut; she was tending to me herself."  
  
At his words Sirius stiffened suddenly and gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"  
  
"She said she knew muggle first aid and got some water and 'cleaned' my cut. It stopped bleeding soon after. It was rather amazing really," he mused not noticing Sirius' change in attitude.  
  
However, he was the only one who didn't notice. Peter and Remus exchanged a furtive glance. Remus looked at Sirius concerned and asked him, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he responded dryly.  
  
He decided then, that there was no better day than tomorrow to tell him. Particularly when he wasn't glowering about Lily having taken care of her wound. Or perhaps when he didn't feel so jealous at the fact that Lily had finally been civil to someone who he felt she shared so much in common with.  
  
***  
  
Lily found out she would have detention that same day, as had been supplied by an owl during the afternoon. She was to report to Professor McGonagall's classroom at seven that night. She knew the procedure; she had been looking out for her detention slip all day. It wasn't as though she hadn't served a detention before. She wasn't exactly a goody two shoes. Lily hardly did get detentions though, and the times she did were what she called self-defense or justified. She had cursed a Slytherin for calling her a 'mudblood', she had also once hit a girl by the surname of Umbridge on the face for having said something very insensitive to someone who had just lost their parents to Lord Voldemort, she had whacked Lucius Malfoy on the head when she had seen him torturing a fairy, things like that. Not that it really mattered, those times had been worth it. This time, she wasn't sure it had.  
  
When Lily came into Professor McGonagall's classroom, she expected to find the old teacher in an empty classroom, sitting on her desk. Boy was she wrong. She found Professor McGonagall, positively mad and lecturing James, Remus, and Peter.  
  
"--- foolish of you to fight back! If it hadn't been for Miss Evans' ability with that spell!" she said positively raving. She heard the door close as Lily entered. "Ah Miss Evans, how good of you to join us. Now, Professor Binns said something about you disrupting class. I find that nearly impossible to believe. That is these young men's responsibility, or so you would think from the amount of trouble they've given to us in the past."  
  
"I didn't mean to disrupt class," Lily said almost in a whisper.  
  
She focused on Remus, all signs of his snout completely erased. She put her finger on her nose when he looked at her and smiled. He nodded and gave her a warm smile. She looked at Peter gave him a nod acknowledging his presence, and avoided looking at James. She had thought about their little 'moment' in the infirmary, but her beliefs remained the same: ignoring James Potter was probably the best thing she could do. The boy was trouble. She walked right behind where the three boys were seated. Professor McGonagall had moved to sit in her desk and looked down at some papers scattered on top.  
  
"I don't know what to do about these children---" she muttered in an almost inaudible voice.  
  
James and Remus smirked at the comment, while Peter just gazed at the window distractedly. Remus turned to face Lily from in front and whispered, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I spoke too loudly during Professor Binns class," she said leaning in to whisper.  
  
"Why were you awake?" he asked amazedly.  
  
She rolled her eyes at his comment and smiled, "Some people need to take notes to pass the class."  
  
"Some people might need to borrow today's notes to study for tests," he said grinning.  
  
"I don't mind today. I had a great day! Besides you have an excuse today," she said in a bright whisper.  
  
"You're not supposed to be entertaining yourselves! Well, since you and Mr. Lupin are enjoying this moment, maybe I should assign you to different chores," Professor McGonagall said indignantly. "I believe that our groundkeeper Hagrid needed help today gathering some specimens in the forest today. Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, you two will help him. Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, you will assist Mr. Filch in cleaning the trophy room."  
  
Both Peter and Remus groaned loudly while Lily felt a terrified look dawn in her face.  
  
"The f-forest?" she asked nervously.  
  
"Mr. Filch will come by to collect you two. I will take you both to Hagrid myself," Professor McGonagall said ignoring Lily's comment. "Come on, let's go."  
  
The professor started out the door while Remus whispered to James 'Lucky dog' as he followed her. Lily stood still before following suit and walked out of the door.  
  
***  
  
Lily caught up in James and stole a glance in his direction. He seemed to find that going to help in the forbidden forest was natural and uneventful. She was slowly getting irritated at his behavior. Then again, she just liked being angry at him.  
  
When they arrived at the hut, Professor McGonagall found that there was no one there. They walked around to find Hagrid setting up his crossbow. He looked surprised to find the teacher there with the two students.  
  
"They are serving detention Hagrid and I remembered you saying you might need help today collecting those specimens for Professor Kettleburn," she said pausing to push James and Lily forward. "Here are your helpers."  
  
Hagrid looked pleased at the idea, James smiled, and Lily gave Hagrid a weak grin.  
  
"Well, they are in your care today Hagrid. I hope all goes well," and with those words she walked away.  
  
"Well I'm glad yeh two are here! It seems yeh both needed a detention ter come visit me!" he said smiling.  
  
"I'm sorry I haven't come by Hagrid, I—" Lily started.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sorry too Hagrid," James said cutting in.  
  
"It's all right yeh two! Now we need to get ter work. I'm glad Professor McGonagall brought me help, I didn' think I could do it by meself," he said grinning at both kids.  
  
He explained to them that they were to gather a few creatures that dwelled in the forest including a billywig, a bowtruckle, a graphon, and if they could, an imp. The billywig, Lily noted, would be hard to find as it was usually native to Australia. She went on to say it to Hagrid, trying not to sound like an annoying know-it-all.  
  
"But Hagrid, how will we find the billywig? It's native to Australia," she said simply.  
  
"There's more ter this forest than meets the eye," he said picking up his crossbow again. "Now, I know yeh two will be alright if yeh look after each other. So don't stray too far. Stay on the path an' I'll be walking ahead of yeh two. If there's any problems just holler an' shoot red sparks from yer wand. If yeh find any of the things we're looking fer, don't try anything fer yerselves, yeh hear? Sends green sparks and I'll come ter find yeh. Some of those can be tricky."  
  
With that he led them into the forest, Lily walking as close to James as she could. He smiled as he noticed and whispered to her, "You okay? Seem kinda jumpy."  
  
"I'm fine," she grumbled. "Now, let's try and find some of those things before we have to stay here all night. This isn't exactly what I had in mind when Professor Binns gave me the detention."  
  
They looked around for half an hour before they finally spotted a bowtruckle. Lily spotted it and whispered at James.  
  
"Is that a bowtruckle?" she inquired in an unsure whisper.  
  
"Yeah I think so. Let's signal Hagrid," he said walking ahead to see Hagrid was nowhere to be seen.  
  
He shot green sparks from his wand and sure enough, within moments large footprints could be heard making their way to them.  
  
"So yeh found somethin'," Hagrid said delighted.  
  
He collected the bowtruckle without many problems and put in a small box big enough for it. The box had a few wholes around the sides, but the bowtruckle seemed to be taking the separation from its home badly as they could hear a few thumps against the small wood box. Hagrid just put the box away in a bag around his shoulders and proceeded to advance before the two. They walked slowly for another half hour before Lily saw something rather interesting. She thought it was an illusion, but sure enough she saw another glimpse of a bright blue color in the distance. She suddenly felt excited at finding that the creature she had thought impossible for them to find was only a few meters away.  
  
"James!" she called in a giddy whisper. "Do you see that?"  
  
He turned to look in the direction she was pointing at and saw a bright blue object fly past a couple of trees. James was about to suggest calling Hagrid again when Lily very suddenly started rushing towards the creature. James called for her to stop, but went after her without thinking twice.  
  
"What are you doing?" he said when he had caught up with her. They were close to it now and Lily approached the creature slowly, careful not to make a sound. James, who was rather annoyed at her behavior, was less wary about making noise. He stepped on a twig making it crack loudly. The sound alerted the insect of the presence of someone else. Lily turned to look at James annoyed. He glared back at her. He moved slightly closer to whisper something when he slipped and fell, knocking her over in the process. Needless to say, it seemed that the billywig was not pleased. It wasn't alone either.  
  
Lily had somehow managed to land on top of James and she had been about to move when she felt something sting her upper right arm. She winced in pain and suddenly felt dizzy. She managed to register James' 'Ouch!' and that was it. She struggled to remove herself from on top of James and failed miserably. She started giggling at her incompetence. James, who had already been stung by the billywig himself, laughed as well. Then as if the laughing wasn't enough, Lily began floating, until she was starting to put a little distance between herself and James. James, confused and unsure, put his arms around her in an attempt to keep her close. She giggled again as he put his arms around her and smiled slightly.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked happily.  
  
"Dunno," he replied smiling.  
  
He barely registered the next thought in his mind, but he lifted his head slightly and put his lips on hers. As though she knew what was going on, but not really, she responded. It felt like the most natural thing and when they pulled away, they giggled incessantly.  
  
Lily smiled besides herself. She knew she couldn't have wanted that to happen, but she didn't seem to care right then. In fact, everything, she thought, was remarkably funny.  
  
"I reckon we should throw up sparks…" James said smiling.  
  
"Sure," she giggled.  
  
He let go of her and pulled out his wand, she had by then floated a bit away. Sparks flowed over their heads as James started floating too. However, soon after the sparks, Hagrid had come running to the spot where Lily and James were now levitating by.  
  
"Oh!" he said surprised. He quickly tried to pull James and Lily down by their cloaks. They giggled as Hagrid tried to pull them down and they moved away. "Come on now! Both of yeh get down!"  
  
They put up quite a struggle but Hagrid managed to pull them down. He tied them up to him with a rope he pulled from inside his overcoat. By the end of the night, Lily and James were both in the infirmary as Madam Pomfrey gave them a potion to make the effects of the billywig die down. They were obligated to sleep in the infirmary, as Madam Pomfrey had insisted, so that she could make sure they didn't still float away during the night.  
  
As they lay in their beds, both of them could feel a bit of tension in the air.  
  
"Did all of that really happen?" Lily asked, speaking for the first time since they had been brought out of their trance.  
  
"I think so," he said unsure.  
  
"Do you—did we---we didn't---" she tried to ask, failing miserably.  
  
"Kiss?" he said with a slight smile drawing on his lips.  
  
"Don't say it!" Lilly hissed ashamed. "We were just really confused… that's it. Take that look off your face!"  
  
"I don't have a look," he said trying to sound innocent.  
  
"You do too!" she said accusingly.  
  
"Do not. And besides, you looked pretty happy when we were kissing too," he said defensively.  
  
"That's what the sting of a billywig does to you. If you tell anyone about this---" she started warningly.  
  
"What? What are you planning to do?" he demanded defiantly.  
  
"I will tell Professor McGonagall that you let the pixies lose in the Great Hall last Thursday," she said haughtily.  
  
"Ha! That wasn't me! That was Sirius!" he said triumphantly.  
  
"You had to be involved in it!" she exclaimed surprised.  
  
"Nope, that was all him!" James laughed as he said it.  
  
"Oh come on. Don't… promise me you won't say anything about it to anyone!" she said desperately, finally looking at him straight in the eyes.  
  
He looked into her deep emerald eyes and felt himself giving in. He couldn't just deny her the chance to keep her pride. However, he couldn't deny that he felt somewhat hurt about the fact that she found him so embarrassing. That while other girls bragged about being with James at one point or another, she would do anything to deny having anything to do with him.  
  
"Fine," he said miserably.  
  
His tone hit a nerve inside her. She felt mean suddenly. So she said one thing before she fell asleep.  
  
"If it's any consolation, it was a nice kiss," she said. With that she turned her back on him and pretended to be asleep, all the while thinking how she actually rather enjoyed a kiss she knew she should've hated. 


	11. Two guys and a girl

**Chapter 11**  
  


A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone. I know the last part might've been a little weak, but I think this one's good.  
  


Kat: thanx for pointing out the blunder on "her wound" I need to turn this into fiction alley and they're touchy about the mistakes.   
  


Happy reading!  
  


When Lily awoke next morning in the infirmary, she found that the bed next to her was empty. James had left earlier. Her friends dropped by to get her up and going all the while asking for an explanation.  
  


"That was one hell of a detention Lily," Sarah said amazed as they walked to the common room. "When was the last time a student got sent to the infirmary because of serving a detention?"  
  


"So what happened?" Hannah asked curiously.  
  


"Well, we were helping Hagrid collect specimens for Professor Kettleburn's class. We were able to collect a bowtruckle before James and I were stung by a billywig," she said all the while trying to avoid their eyes.  
  


"A billywig? Aren't those only found in---" Hannah started.  
  


"Australia and apparently the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid said that there's more to that place than meets the eye. Next thing I know, we were giggling like crazy, and we started levitating slightly. Hagrid had a difficult time getting us down. Anyhow, Madam Pomfrey wanted to make sure we didn't float off in the middle of the night," she said stopping before the fat lady's portrait. "Lion's den."  
  


The portrait swung open and they made their way through the common room, Lily looking around inconspicuously for any signs of James or Sirius. Neither of the two boys was there, she noted trudging her way up the stairs to the girls dormitories. She gathered her things to go take a shower before walking to class. She barely registered that her friends had changed the topic of the conversation and were now arguing about the latest issue of the daily prophet. She barely heard a word they said as her thoughts started drifting to the thought of Hogsmeade with Sirius. But then her thoughts began to waver. She started thinking subconsciously about James. She wanted to think that it was only because of the way he had seemed so nice yesterday.   
  


'No, that wasn't it,' a voice inside her said. 'It was the disappointment in his eyes after you told him not to tell anyone about your kiss…"  
  


She tried to pry herself from those thoughts as she picked up her garments and walked to the bathroom, fingering her hair like she did when she was nervous. She turned back and reached over to the side of her bed, where she had placed her bag the day before. She pulled out of a book the parchment she had written back and forth with Sirius on.  
  


'You're going on a date with the guy you have a crush on,' she tried telling herself. 'Stop thinking about his best friend.'  
  


Another thought suddenly formed in her head. She imagined that if James always tried to ask her out when she kept refusing, he wouldn't be too keen on his best friend having succeeded.  
  


'Not that it matters,' she told herself. 'What do I care what James Potter thinks?'  
  


She looked over at her friends who were still talking about something she didn't care to notice. She walked to the bathroom door and called out, "Wait for me, I won't be long."  
  


She heard Sarah and Hannah say "Yeah, okay" and turned to the shower. She let the water flow over her trying to erase the thoughts of the night before. As she changed she read over the 'conversation' she and Sirius had had. She smiled to herself as she thought that tomorrow she and Sirius would be going to Hogsmeade together. It was after all, she said to herself, what she had wanted. With that thought in her mind, she walked out ready to begin her classes for the day.  
  


***  
  


When James had stepped out of the infirmary early in the morning, he had felt somewhat depressed about what had happened the day before. He could still feel Lily's lips on his and he smiled despite her late reaction. He wanted to think that her giggles were actually how she felt, but that wasn't true. She had been under the effects of the billywig. He headed up to his dormitory, being too early for anyone to be up. He noted that his roommates, his friends, were still snoring in their beds. He took a shower and walked to the great hall, had an early breakfast and walked outside to the fields as soon as he was done. He had herbology that morning anyhow, he said to himself. He would be early, but he started to feel the morning chill around him. It was almost Halloween and as the month ended, the days tended to get a little colder and windier. As he entered the greenhouse, he felt a wave of warmth wash over him. He sat in the place reading a book called 'History of the Great Wizards' until he heard the door open and close. He looked up and found Sirius looking at him rather nervously.  
  


"I thought you would be here," he said sitting down next to him.  
  


"Yeah, is there something wrong?" James asked concerned.  
  


"No, not really. Where were you last night? I don't think I heard you come in," Sirius said stalling the real reason he had gone to find him.  
  


"Yeah, can you believe it? Lily and I got stung by a billywig," he said jokingly. "We started laughing like crazy."  
  


"I thought you had detention with Remus and Peter yesterday," Sirius said confused.  
  


"I did, but turns out Lily got detention for speaking too loudly in Binns' class so she had to serve detention with us. McGonagall thought Lily and Remus were speaking too much so she had me and Lily work on a completely different task than Remus and Peter. We ended up helping Hagrid in the Forbidden Forest," he continued to tell him about what had happened, except about the kiss. He wanted to keep his promise to Lily. "So are you gonna tell me why you look like you're about to toss your cookies?"  
  


Sirius just looked at the floor before speaking.  
  


"I asked Lily out," he blurted out.   
  


Sirius surveyed James look from where he was sitting, but the look in his friend's face was unrecognizable.  
  


"You what?" James asked calmly.  
  


"I asked her out, on a date, tomorrow to Hogsmeade," Sirius said somewhat shakily.  
  


"What did she say?" James asked again coolly.  
  


"She said yes," Sirius said still hesitantly.  
  


"Congratulations, I hope it was worth it," James bit out angrily.  
  


He got up from his seat, threw his book in his bag and began to walk away only to walk back and face Sirius.  
  


"Why? Why did you do it? Have I ever expressed that I cared about anyone like I do about Lily? There's a boundary Sirius! It's not even about calling dibs on a person, it can't be done! But I—I don't even know how to explain it. She means a lot to me! I trust you and you take the girl I've fancied for two years in two months!" he said angrily to Sirius.  
  


"Ever thought about what she wanted mate? I didn't take her, she was never yours! You wanna know why? Because you're a prat, she's told you herself! She hates the way you treat people. I realize you think she's the love of your bloody life, but you're right. I don't understand! You've never really had more than one decent conversation with the girl!" Sirius said defending himself. He stepped down and sighed heavily. His tone got patient and cautious. "I have feelings for her James. I didn't mean to—I didn't want to, but she makes me feel like I can be the good guy. She makes me feel like I'm in heaven, just by talking to her. I respect her and her opinions, which I had never understood until now. I—I just wanted to tell you before someone else did. I thought if you'd understand-- I knew you'd be angry, but maybe that you'd understand. I'm sorry, because I am your best friend and I knew how you felt about her, even if I don't understand it. If it bothers you that much--"  
  


"And what? Make Lily hate me even more?" he said bitterly. "I do know how she feels about me. She would rather eat a dungbomb than admit she had been nice to me."  
  


Sirius snuck a look at James. He sat there just feeling sorry for his best friend.   
  


"I have to face it, don't I? She thinks I'm a jerk, but I've never known any other way of getting her to notice," he said mostly to himself. He wanted to be okay with it, but he was burning with jealousy. He wanted his best friend to be happy, but not with Lily. He wasn't sure of anything in his life, but he was sure he wanted Lily.  
  


***  
  


When Lily and her friends walked into the Herbology, she could feel an odd tension in the room. She noticed that most of the class was already there, even though there was an eerie silence in the room. They walked over to where Aurora and Frank Longbottom were sitting. Lily could feel the tension in the room creeping in and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Something was off.  
  


"What's wrong? Why is everyone so quiet?" she asked Frank.  
  


"Well, I'd hazard a guess and say it's the marauders," he said confidently.  
  


"What do you mean?" Sarah asked confused.  
  


"Well, Sirius and James were the first ones in the class and apparently they were having some sort of argument," Frank said in a soft voice.  
  


"What kind of argument?" Hannah whispered back.  
  


"We don't know. Anyhow, when everybody started coming in, they just stopped talking altogether," Aurora quipped in. "Why do you think its so quiet? They're the ones that make all the noise in this classroom."  
  


Lily took in what her friend said and looked over where Sirius and James were sitting. Remus and Peter were there, looking quite confused and trying to get their friends to talk. James ignored everything the other two boys were saying, looking fixedly at one spot of his book. He was obviously not reading, but possibly thought the book might make other people think twice before 'interrupting' him. Sirius, on the other hand, tried to dismiss Remus' and Peter's comments by telling them everything was okay. When Peter failed to stop asking questions, Sirius got fed up.  
  


"I said it was nothing Peter! Give it a rest!" with that he got up from where he was sitting and looked around. He spotted Lily and walked over towards her, apparently ignoring the glares James had started throwing his way.  
  


She wanted to ask what was happening, but by the way he had shouted at Peter she just gave him a smile.  


"Hey," she said in a whisper.  
  


He gave her a weak smile and began writing something on a piece of parchment. When he finished he pushed the paper to her. She took it and read.  
  


*James and I got into a big fight… can I talk to you about it later?*  
  


She nodded at him and took his hand and squeezed it lightly. From across the room, James glared at them throughout the whole class.  
  


***  
  


When class ended, Lily told her friends she'd see them later and joined Sirius outside the classroom. When they had made sure they were the only ones left, they started walking towards their DADA class.  
  


"So are you ready to talk?" Lily inquired after they had been walking in silence for a while.  
  


"Yeah," he said as if he had only just noticed her. "I… well, James and I—we had this fight."  
  


"Uhuh," Lily said warily.  
  


"We—I did something that perhaps I shouldn't have done. I took something which meant a lot to him and he—well, I told him and he got angry. I hoped he wouldn't. I thought maybe if I explained to him my reasons for my actions, he would understand," he said nervously. He stopped suddenly and turned to look at Lily. Her piercing green eyes locked with his and he knew he didn't want to lie to her. "Actually… I knew he would be mad. I knew that no matter how I explained it, what I did was wrong, but I really—I really needed to do what I did. Am I making any sense?"  
  


She looked at him for a moment before speaking.  
  


"It does. You did something you knew you shouldn't have done but you were hoping your best friend would still understand," she said looking at him thoughtfully. "I guess the only thing you should ask yourself was if it was worth it."  
  


He examined her for a moment as though weighing down his answer.  
  


"Yes," he said significantly. "Completely."  
  


They arrived to the DADA class in silence and sat together for class. All the while, Sirius thoughts kept turning back to trying to think of a way to talk to James.  



	12. A friendly warning

**Chapter 12**

A/N: I know I took my time with this one, but there were a lot of things I wasn't so sure of… I hope u guys like it *glances at the fanfic nervously*

Good reading. Thanks for the reviews everyone! Remember to leave more when u finish reading!

p.s. Kat, I regularly use word, but I'm gonna publish in html just to avoid the little mess ups…

When class finally ended, there wasn't a person in the room who wasn't relieved to be out. Getting used to the Marauders took time, but now being accustomed to their antics and having to face class when they were out of sorts was dreadful. The first to make a mad dash out of the door was James, followed soon after by Remus, Peter, and a fidgety Sirius who excused himself hastily from Lily. As Lily gathered her things, she heard professor Munin call her name.

"Can I have a word with you Ms. Evans?" he said from his desk.

"Sure," she said picking up her bag and walking towards the old professor.

"Well, Miss Evans I'm delighted to inform you that I have assured two possible candidates for your tutoring. Now I am confident you want to start as soon as possible so you'll be delighted to hear that you can start tutoring on Monday at seven. I have yet to talk to your tutor, but I'm sure he'll agree," Professor Munin said smiling brightly at Lily. "I'm hoping you'll do great!" 

"Thank you Professor," she hesitated before leaving. "Professor, do you mind if I ask who it is you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise! I'd hate to spoil it. Anyway, I thought you could use the best help possible. I assure you this student is the top of my class and quite a great person," he said still smiling.

She left wondering who the professor was talking about. She was only grateful that he sounded happier than when he had told her she needed the tutoring. Professor Munin was after all one of her favorite teachers. However, she had heard that the 40 year old teacher would be leaving his position at Hogwarts to work at the ministry. He was an ex-Auror and because of Professor Dumbledore's pleas to help in the fight against Voldemort, had agreed to come out of retirement as deputy head of the department of law enforcement. The head of the department was none other than James' father, Eric Potter. In his own right, Eric Potter was the best Auror in the field. He seemed to have the catching-bad-guys scheme down pretty well. That was why she wasn't surprised when she saw James rescue a couple of first year Hufflepuffs form the evil grips of the Slytherins.

_"Look here Malfoy, pick on someone your own size!" James said angrily at the seventh year Slytherin. "Or you'll have to deal with me."_

_"Well if it isn't our very own mudblood lover? You meddlesome fool, don't you understand? Magic wasn't meant for people like them! We are far superior than they are and here you are fighting your own to protect them!" Lucius spitted out angrily._

_"Where did you get the notion that you and I come from the same place? Where did you get the idea that you're superior to everyone else? Got off your high horse Malfoy! If there's anyone inferior here, it's you for believing such stupid nonsense," James retaliated. "You won't even fight without your goons!"_

_As soon as he said the words Malfoy directed a hex in James direction but missed as James moved too quickly. In retaliation he called out 'Rictusempra__'. The spell hit Lucius so hard that he doubled over breathless, while his two goons, Crabbe and Goyle looked at James with a mixture of fear and anger._

_"Do you really want to test what I can do to you?" James said smugly. They backed away slowly, trying to pick up Lucius, but being actually too dumb to figure out how to help him. James had walked away swiftly, telling the Hufflepuff first years to warn him if the Slytherins tried anything against them. _

She had seen half the attack, convinced that he had it under control. That had been the first time Lily had ever seen James rightfully attack a person. She recalled he had gotten a week's worth of detention for it, but hadn't complained or bragged about it either. Then again, the next week, she had also seen him set a third year's book on fire for apparently no reason.

And so that's how she spent her day. She started out thinking about things like her DADA lesson and ended up connecting it somehow to James Potter. She didn't even know where the connection of thoughts began, but she had never been invaded by the thought of a person as much as he had been invaded by James. She couldn't really think as of why either. She could, but she wasn't willing to accept an explanation her heart provided. She knew somewhere in her mind, she was somehow the source of the fight between James and Sirius. 'I took something which meant a lot to him…' Sirius words rang in the back of her mind.

***

Sirius had to admit that, by the end of the day when he finally going to sleep, he had never felt as tired and depressed as he was right then. He had spent the better part of the day trying to talk to his best friend. He had tried speaking to him during their lunch break only to have to retreat unwillingly. James, he observed, just wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. In an attempt to enlist help in his mission to make peace, Sirius had told Remus and Peter about the situation. Peter seemed to be shutting him out since having heard the reason for the fight. However, he had gotten calm understanding from Remus, along with several opinions to make James forgive him. They were in the library discussing the events thoroughly, even with Sirius' reluctance to relive the events.

"What did you say to him Sirius?" Remus asked calmly.

"Well…" Sirius hesitated. "I kinda blew up at him."

"Sirius, what did you say?" Remus asked again sternly.

"I told him she thought he was a prat. That Lily didn't like him; that he hadn't even talked to her. I'm not proud of myself. I was a bit harsh," Sirius said regrettably.

"You don't say?" Remus said wryly. 

"You have to help me Remus. You have to help me convince him…" Sirius pleaded.

"Convince him of what exactly?" Remus asked even though he knew the answer.

"Convince him that I'm sorry but that I still care a lot about Lily," Sirius said avoiding his friend's eyes.

"Do you? She's not another one of those girls is she?" Remus said warily. "Because I have to tell you, even though you're my friend, she is too. I wouldn't like to see her get hurt—"

"No!" he said desperately. "Not at all. I- I have feelings for her. She's great-- she makes me think…"

"Which I know is a big step for you," Remus said jokingly only to receive a glare from his friend. "You walked into that one mate. Besides, you need a laugh; it's been a dreadful day."

"You can say that again," Sirius said dejectedly. 

"You know, I'm sure James will be okay. I'll talk to him. You should just steer clear from him for a couple of days and talk to Lily and make sure everything okay for tomorrow," Remus said picking up his books.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Sirius asked confused.

"Well, you've been somewhere else all day. That and you haven't been to any of our afternoon classes," Remus said plainly.

"I'm just glad he didn't try to hex me or punch me…" Sirius said relieved. "But you're right; I should talk to Lily before I turn in. Then I'm going to just throw myself on the bed and hopefully wake up before James comes in. I really should let him cool down."

"So you're going to head to the common room right now?" Remus asked curiously.

"Yeah, I mean, that's where she'll be right?" Sirius asked uncertain.

"Yeah, I guess, but it's still early, she might be in the great hall…" Remus said looking at his watch. "Go on to the Great Hall. Anyhow, I want to see if James is in the common room so I can have that talk with him."

***

Sirius went to find Lily, only to find she had retrieved to her dormitory. Sarah, who he had known just as long as he had known Lily had just given him a sweet smile and cooed, "You're looking for dearest Lily? She'll be delighted!" 

He smiled embarrassedly at her mockery. Lily would've killed her if she had heard her best friend say that. Hannah, who had also been eating dinner with her, had looked at Sarah delighted at her joke.

"She is going to kill you when I tell her!" she threatened laughing.

He smiled at the way they acted. They were like a different version of the marauders… except they were, well, girls and only three. He sat down and started talking to them, feeling at ease at the light conversation with the two girls. He inquired about Lily's taste, forgetting his troubles for a while and taking advantage of the situation to find out Lily's preferences.

"You know Lily fairly well right?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah! I mean we've been friends since our first day!" Hannah said happily.

"So, where do you two reckon she'd like for me to take her tomorrow?" he asked animatedly.

"Having lunch in a nice place would be a good idea…" Hannah commented.

"Too formal! You'll both feel pressured!" Sarah disagreed. "Maybe to Madame Puddifoot's? That would be nice…"

"You thought lunch was formal? That old café is a couple makeout--" Hannah was poked in the ribs by Sarah who smiled mischievously at her friend. "Oh yeah! That place would be great!"

He chuckled at their behavior and smiled. "Any other suggestions?"

"Take her to Dervish and Banges, she wants a new charms book," Hannah suggested.

"And a DADA book, she needs help in the class," Sarah said thoughtfully.

"She's Head Girl, how much does she need to study?" he asked surprised.

"How do you think she got there? She cares a lot about her work," Sarah said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Thanks for the advice and when you see her tell her that if she still wants to go, I'll be waiting for her at nine," he said getting up from the Gryffindor table.

"You leaving?" Sarah asked disappointed.

"Yeah why?" he asked confused.

"She wanted to keep making some of the Slytherin girls jealous. They'd die to go out with you. They've looked at us murderously since you came to speak with us," Hannah said amused. 

Sarah just smiled and waved with a sarcastic smile at the Slytherin girls who were looking angrily in their direction. They looked about ready to attack and got even angrier at Sarah's taunt.

"I think we should go with you to the common room," Hannah said worriedly eyeing the irritated girls. She looked around at the other tables only to find less than pleased girls from other houses. "Come on, let us walk you. Let's go Sarah. Stop making faces at them! They'll only get angrier!"

Sarah stopping her childish antics and was dragged away by a worried Hannah and a laughing Sirius.

"Do you like making enemies Sarah?" he asked smiling.

"It's not that I like to make enemies, but did you see their expression? You would think we were taking away their boyfriend," she said looking back in the direction of the hall. She refocused her glittering blue eyes on Sirius. "But wait! It _is the great Sirius Black I'm talking to here. Most of them have been your girlfriends…"_

"True! Which brings a subject of great urgency to our minds," Hannah continued.

"You guys work well together don't you?" Sirius asked amused.

Hannah ignored his comment and pulled him to a stop, while Sarah circled around them and examined the boy carefully.

"We need to know--" Hannah started giving Sirius a pointed look.

"--what you intend with Lily--" Sarah continued as she moved behind Hannah.

"--and if you plan to add her--" Hannah said warningly.

"--to your list of forgotten loves," Sarah said finally stopping behind Sirius so that he was in between the two girls.

He nodded and started to speak. "Trust me it's not like that—"

"See Sirius, Lily is our best friend and we take care of our best friends. We think that it's great that you've asked her out," Sarah interrupted with a smile.

"Wonderful really," Sarah quipped in.

"But if you do something to hurt her, trust us, you will know what its like to be at the receiving end of many of your pranks," Hannah said boldly and seriously.

"We are quick studies and you'd be surprised how much we have learned from you over the years as well as the many charms Lily knows. It's her best subject. You wouldn't be unscathed," Sarah whispered in a scary voice.

Yet, as soon as they had finished speaking they moved away from him and gave him sweet and friendly smiles. The two girls looped their arms in each of Sirius' arms and dragged the shocked boy to the common room.

"That's one hell of a trick! From friendly to intimidating in a second and back. You two are good at that," he said nervously glancing at the seemingly innocent girls.

 "Don't worry. If you really don't mean any harm, no harm will come to you," Sarah said brightly.

""Okay, don't take this the wrong way but you two can be creepy," he said with a nervous laugh.

"We know…" Hannah said as they arrived to the Gryffindor tower. "Lion's den."

"Have fun tomorrow," Sarah said happily as she walked up to the girl's dormitory.

"Yeah have fun. Good night!" Hannah said walking behind her friend up the stairs.

They had walked away and he had laughed at their protectiveness. It was—sweet, after he took away their odd way to go about it. He had looked for his friends in the common room, only to find that none of them were anywhere to be found. He had walked up to find that all the beds were empty except for Frank's. He gave him a sleepy 'goodnight' as he threw himself on the bed with his school robes still on, too tired to get up and change them. As he lay summarizing the day up in his mind, he finally drifted off to sleep.


	13. Out and about

**Chapter 13**

**a/n****: **Manny: if you're curious about the tutor, u might have to wait a bit, but it'll b worth it.

Sarah: just for the record, she is one of my favorites too. R u really like her? 

Anon: Thanx for the heads up on the chapter. I messed up when I was posting chp 12 but I think I fixed it…

This is a real fluff part but it's long. The famous date! I hope u guys like it. Thanx for the reviews and remember R/R!!!****

When Lily woke up, she found herself feeling more excited than she had been in a while. She smiled to herself and lay still on the bed as she listened to Sarah and Hannah speaking excitedly.

"It was really nice for him to do that," Hannah said to Sarah while they gathered their things. 

"Yeah, it was sweet…" Sarah said reflectively. "We really scared him didn't we?"

"I don't think he thinks we're normal anymore…" Hannah said smiling. "But then again, it was necessary to warn him. I mean, you know the reputation Sirius has—"

"What did you do?" Lily said jumping from her spot on the bed. She jumped off the bed to face her shocked friends, who avoided her gaze. "Sarah? Hannah? Come on!"

"Well…" Hannah started.

"We just gave him a few tips…" Sarah said innocently.

"I don't believe you! Come on!" Lily said exasperated. "Just tell me so I can apologize and salvage whatever is left of my date."

"Don't worry about it Lily, we just played a joke on him. Come on, go get ready! He said he'd be waiting for you at the entrance at nine," Hannah said trying to side-track the conversation.

She glanced at her watch and forgot about her friends' conversation.

"At nine?! But it's—it's a quarter to nine! Why didn't you two wake me?" she bellowed as she gathered her things to take a shower and get ready. "Come on, help me out you guys! Can you pick a robe for me to wear while I shower?"

The two girls grinned widely and nodded.

"Shoo shoo, go on!" Sarah said pushing her friend into the bathroom connected to their room. When Lily had gone in and closed the door she muttered to Hannah. "I thought you said it was quarter to eight? Hannah! Come on, let's get this day started!"

When Lily came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her friends had picked out some brown-colored robes, which brought out her green eyes. They convinced her to wear her hair down, as she usually had it tied up in a tall ponytail. They applied some soft touches of make up on her to enhance her features, and smiled proudly when they had finished the job. They walked her all the way to the stairs before the entrance, where they saw a fidgety Sirius walk back and forth between the entrance of the school and the Great Hall. Lily smiled at him as he caught her coming down the stairs. He stopped moving altogether and a smile crept up to his face. He walked to meet her in the middle of the stairs and he held out his hand.

"Milady!" he said bowing and taking her hand. "You look spectacular."

"Sirius—" she started in an amused manner. She could hear her friends whisper 'aww's and 'sweet's to each other. Her cheeks started to burn.

"Shall we go then?" he smiled. He looped her arm in his and they walked together out of the school on their way to Hogsmeade.

They talked flippantly about the chances of the Quidditch team as they walked the drive to the town. Sirius had been on the team since the third year. Now, he told her, he wanted to make sure all effort to keep the team winning the cup the next year when they were gone, would still be good.

"I'm willing to train in the rain all day just to make sure we win the cup. I'm anxious to see what tricks the Slytherins have planned for us. That way I can retaliate without any remorse whatsoever. I can easily plead self-defense!" he said smiling.

"That's how you end up with all those detentions. I'll never see you again if you keep retaliating! I know they'll try something again soon, seeing as how they didn't get out of the last one unscathed," Lily said eyeing some Slytherins as they entered the town.

"Now, now, we're here to have fun! Would you like to go someplace in specific my beautiful lady?" he asked charmingly steering her away from their rival house classmates. 

"Not if you insist on talking on like that!" she said jokingly. He smiled back and she looked down the street searchingly. "Why don't we to Honeyduke's? Halloween is coming up and well, I need to pack up a stash."

"To the candy store it is!" he smiled brightly as they walked to the store.

They entered the store, which was like always, full of Hogwarts students. They wandered off into a corner where there weren't that many people and Sirius started picking out candy for Lily to take, all the while explaining why he thought some of them were good and others not.

"I suggest taking some cockroach clusters, they're always a riot! I've tricked many into eating these; it's always a hilarious to see their reactions!" Sirius said delighted.

Lily examined him for a moment and smiled. 

"You sound a lot more cheerful than you were yesterday…" she said thinking out loud. She didn't think she had voiced her thought until he responded.

"Yesterday was a long day…" he replied in a gloomy voice. He shook it off and stretched his arm around Lily to grab some Fizzing Whizzbees when Lily murmured an apology.

"I shouldn't have mentioned it, I'm sorry," she said putting a hand on his stretched arm.

He looked at her for a moment and smiled at her kindly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for; it's a situation that needs handling. I'm just tired of thinking about it. There's something more important on my mind right now…" he said meeting her intense green eyes. 

He felt himself leaning over to her, his left arm outstretched next to her face. He got closer to her slowly, with a shy apprehension. She could almost feel his lips on hers when somebody stumbled onto Sirius from the right and threw him to the floor. When Sirius looked at the intruder, his gaze was murderous. Lily rushed to help Sirius up as the boy who had fallen on him scampered to his feet.

"I'm so sorry!" Peter Pettigrew said apologetically as he put enough distance between him and Sirius.

"I'd hate to be you right now Wormtail…" Sirius said irritated.

"It's alright Peter. No one's hurt, are you Peter? Sirius?" she asked trying to stop Sirius from hurting Peter.

"He would be…" he muttered annoyed. He felt Lily slap him playfully on his arm. "Run along Peter, no harm done."

Peter gave them both a nervous smile before he walked away hurriedly. Lily turned to look at Sirius and gave him a stern look.

"Uhoh, what is it Professor McGonagall?" he asked jokingly.

"Come on. That was a bit much. He's one of your best friends. He falls over and you look at him as though committed a crime," she said unbelievingly amused.

"He did. He ruined a perfectly nice moment and should have to go to Azkaban!" he said smiling and taking Lily's hand and steering her towards the shopkeeper to purchase their selection.

"Azkaban for ruining a moment! Peter couldn't be more innocent if he tried. Poor bloke trips over himself daily!" she said with a chuckle. She smiled despite herself at the idea that they had actually shared a moment and she gave Sirius an adoring look. "It was a nice moment wasn't it?"

He looked at her and smiled goofily. "It's always nice when you're around anyhow."

Sirius paid the shopkeeper for the candy and they walked out into the street and walked for a moment aimlessly. Lily held on to Sirius hand as they made their way in front of the stores and establishments. It felt comfortable to do so, she said to herself. She smiled brightly at Aurora, Frank, and Daya waved at them from inside the Three Broomsticks. 

"What do you say we go into Madame Pudifoot's and get warm?" Sirius asked suddenly as they passed in front of the small tea shop.

"Yeah, sure," Lily said hesitantly. 

She suddenly felt herself going tense. She let go of Sirius hand as they walked inside and sat down in front of a window. It vaguely reminded her of the divination classroom up in the towers. Professor Isis' room, much like this tea shop, was kept cozy with the smell of brewing tea. She sat down and glanced nervously at the tables around them. Other couples were sitting in the other tables. She could see a three or four of them kissing and she felt suddenly self-conscious. Sirius didn't expect anything, did he? It felt like a lot of pressure considering they had just been moments away from experiencing their first kiss, a few minutes before. He seemed to catch on to her apprehension because he put his hand on hers and met her eyes.

"It's a bit much isn't it?" he asked smiling.

She nodded and smiled back. She felt herself relax more and she looked outside the window. She was glad they were inside. It was windy outside and she could feel herself become enveloped by the warmth of the little shop.

"Do you want to leave?" he asked looking at her nervously.

"No, it's warm in here. Maybe we can have one cup of tea, then we move on…" she said looking back at him smiling. 

A woman came by and took their order and delivered their drinks promptly. Lily felt herself drawn into the curiosity of the previous day's events. She could still feel the thoughts that had haunted her yesterday gnawing to make their way to the top of her thoughts. She had resolved to bury the issue of James and Sirius yesterday as she fell asleep. She was wrong, she told herself again, she had nothing to do with it. Her resolve, however, was breaking. So it was a relief when Sirius started talking about another thing that was troubling her mind.

"How are you doing in DADA class? Sarah and Hannah were telling me you were still having some problems…" he said trying to break the silence that had fallen upon them. It wasn't an awkward silence; it had been a deep-in-thought silence that was making him nervous.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I was still having some problems, but I talked to Professor Munin. He's got a tutor lined up for me," she said grinning. "I'm sure I'll do loads better."

"I could've helped you," he offered.

"You've got enough to worry about. You have Quidditch and now that thing with—anyways, it's okay. Besides, I don't think we'd get any work done," Lily said trying to keep the conversation from turning to the topic they were avoiding.

"I guess that might be true," he said with a playful smile. "So do you have any idea who your tutor is going to be?"

"He didn't tell me. He wanted it to be a surprise. I guess I'll find out on Monday at seven," she said light-heartedly. Her voice turned a little more serious as remembered the Slytherins. "All I know is that I'm going to be happy to get any help. That class is essential, whether for job or just because. There have been too many killings. I rather prepare myself while I still can."

"I have never seen you as defenseless. You do great on the most part with everything else. What makes DADA different from any other of your classes? You do great in every single one. Almost effortlessly, but not in DADA," he mentioned intrigued.

"I suppose it's that I can deflect attacks, avoid difficult situations, but when it comes down to attacking… my mind goes blank. I did horribly when we faced the boggarts during our third year. It took me a lot of practicing to cast that simple 'riddiculus' spell. Nerves I guess; I have to feel completely confident about myself and skills in that area…" she said sipping on her tea ever so slowly between breaths.

"Yet you're not one to stand down. If I didn't fear for your safety, I'd recommend you try to become an Auror but it's not safe for anyone. Least of all muggleborns," he said hesitantly.

"I am… considering it. I want to become an Auror. I think it's a meaningful job. I want to help catch the men who kill those innocent people. I want to help end this evil. Voldemort can't win, not when there are still people who are willing to fight," she said determinedly.

He looked at her in awe. He knew a lot of people wanted Voldemort gone. He had never seen anyone show that much determination to help except for James. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. They finished their tea and they walked outside, Sirius took her hand once more and led her to Dervish and Banges.

"You read my mind," Lily said pleased. "I really wanted some new books."

"Let me guess, Charms and DADA. Am I right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"I feel like a bookworm now," she said blushing. "I just want to be prepared for Monday's class."

"Well, I imagine you want the new charms book to perfect your skill," he said as they browsed the rows of books. He picked up his favorite book about DADA and handed it to her. "This is my personal favorite. You should own one, it's really quite helpful."

He handed her a leather bound book with the words carved in front, 'Guide to Your Protection: a Defense Against Dark Spells' the title read. She picked it up and browsed it. She found that the book not only contained information about jinxes and spells they had learned in their DADA class, but also had a section about dark wizards.

"Wow, this looks like a good book," she said putting it under her arm. "Ok, I'll take this one and I need to pick up my charms book."

They headed over to where the books on Charm work were located and she began flipping through the pages of the different books. 

"You're Flitwick's pet aren't you?" he asked smiling. 

"I'm not his pet! He just likes me because I do well in the class," she said defensively.

"I do great in his class and he hates me," he said casually.

"That's because you set a niffler lose in the classroom. You also set the fireworks underneath his desk. I think you also vanished the books he stands on in class…" she said trying to recall the last one.

"The fireworks weren't my fault!" he said innocently. She gave him an unbelieving look and he threw his hands up in the air. "Fine it was, but they were burning a whole in my pocket and if I had to listen to Peter nag on about how he couldn't get the cushion to fly into the box at all, then I was going to have to kill him."

She chuckled at his comment and picked out two books she had been examining. They walked up to the register, paid, and walked out to the street. They looked at each other for a moment and they began walking up the street that led back to school.

"You seem awful upset at Peter," she said smiling.

"Don't mistake me, I trust the chap with my life. He's extremely trustworthy, but sometimes, he can be a tad too--" he said trying to find the word.

"Irritating?" Lily provided.

"Well, yes," he said thoughtfully. He glanced at Lily and his thoughts started pouring into words. "This thing with James—Peter just sided immediately with James. He just shut me out suddenly. I'll help him out with anything; I guess I just expected him to help me out. I find it bothersome that he would abandon me. The three of them, they're my brothers. They're my only family, if I can't depend on them, who do I have?"

"You have me," Lily said encouragingly. "If you need a friend Sirius, I'll be there."

He smiled at her desolately, as though his words had made him reflect on the position he found himself in. Having fought with his best friend, he felt somehow alone. Yet, he looked at Lily and felt his feelings of despair and loneliness wash away. He wasn't alone. She would be there. She wanted to be there. They stopped walking and he glanced around them. There was no one in sight. They had left the town without noticing. He examined her face and found in her deep green eyes a sign of expectancy. Before, he knew what he was doing, he reached down, and felt his lips connect with hers. In that moment he felt as elated as he had never been.


	14. Allseeing

Chapter 14  
  
Lily stepped back slightly surprised. She had been expecting it to happen but it didn't make it less shocking. She held her fingers on her lips and felt Sirius' eyes on her, watching her intently for her reaction. He looked worried for a moment, but her smile, unfaltering and kind made him feel at ease. Inside, she was a storm of emotions. She had just been kissed by the boy she had liked for over three months and she couldn't stop herself from thinking that James' kiss had been better. She had long learned how to appear calm to others without actually feeling confident at all. She looked at Sirius who was looking at her smiling and she felt herself smiling back. This was who she wanted, not James, with his million and one pranks and mean jokes. She wanted someone who didn't always use other people as punching bags and she also wanted to get back to the castle urgently, now. She needed to talk to Hannah or Sarah. They would help her make sense of things. She walked with Sirius back to the castle holding hands and when he offered to wait for her to come down for dinner, she refused, eager for some time alone with her friends.  
  
"Today is the Halloween feast," he reminded her. "Don't be too late."  
  
She looked at the calendar as soon as she had gone up to her dormitory. She had completely forgotten about Halloween.  
  
'No chance of seeing Sarah or Hannah right now then. They'll be circling the halls working up an appetite,' she thought mildly annoyed.  
  
She paced around her dormitory for a good half hour before starting to feel alone and confused, got up to go to the library. She didn't want to stay in her room doing nothing. So she headed downstairs, walking briskly towards the portrait.  
  
***  
  
James walked around the halls feeling very dejected. He had seen it; all of it. He had even pushed Peter into Sirius to keep him from kissing Lily at Honeyduke's. Their date had gone great and he regretted having followed them around in his invisibility cloak. Well, he had followed them almost everywhere. He had lost all motivation to follow them into Madam Pudifoot's, but then he had seen them again when he had been walking back to the castle. He had heard Sirius speaking to Lily about them. He also saw them kiss. His stomach had never squirmed so much. He still couldn't wrap his mind around the idea of Lily and Sirius together.  
  
He walked until he reached professor Munin's classroom. He went in, intent on talking with the old teacher. He often went to Professor Munin, for the sake of talking and for listening to any news about Voldemort. Professor Munin was very much involved in the work being done to fight against the Dark Lord. Right now, that was what he needed. He needed to think about something else. He needed to get the image of Lily and Sirius out of his mind. He found Professor Munin looking in a cage at some doxies.  
  
"Er. Professor Munin? How's it going?" he asked moving to look at the fairy closely.  
  
"Ah! James, just the person I wanted to see!" he said happily turning to look at the boy. "Look a new shipping of doxies for my third years. What do you think?"  
  
"They look more vicious than last years' professor. Good stock." he said inspecting the little creatures who tried to bit his hand when he put it on the cage. He moved his hand away and tried to grin. "You're starting a new subject with the third years then? I thought they'd never get past the grindylows. So many of them needed tutoring."  
  
"Oh! Thank you for reminding me. I've been meaning to speak with you since the beginning of the week, but the subject kept slipping my mind. Would you mind terribly beginning on another student for me? You did so great with some of the third years, I thought you might help me again," he said completely delighted about the idea of having James as a tutor.  
  
James thought about it for a second before the image of Lily popped back into his head, "I'd love to help Professor. When would I begin?"  
  
"Excellent. I knew I could count on you James. You'd start on Monday, here at seven. Trust me you'd never find a better student, she's very hard- working," Professor Munin continued smiling whiling looking around his desk for some papers.  
  
James was about to ask who he was supposed to tutor when Remus rushed in through the door. "Hey-need-to---talk-to-you."  
  
"Okay," James said apprehensively. "So Monday then Professor? I'll be here."  
  
"Marvelous James, thank you," Munin said delighted.  
  
***  
  
James followed Remus out of the classroom, outside to the hall very confused. "What's wrong with you?" he asked intrigued.  
  
"Hannah Spinnet just came to me with a problem. She said that she thought she saw your floating head near Hogsmeade," he said worriedly. "She was quite scared to say the least. I had told her before you would be in the library all day."  
  
"Oh man! She saw me? Did anyone else?" James asked worriedly.  
  
"No, just her. But I think you should talk to her. Calm her down. I convinced her not to tell anyone else about it either..." Remus said nervously.  
  
"That's good. I'll go talk to her right now," he said starting to walk towards the Gryffindor common room. "Why did she ask you what I would be doing all day?"  
  
"We were talking yesterday and she asked me if I was going to be hanging out with you," Remus said plainly. He stole a glance at his friend's furtive smile. "It's not like that! She just hasn't had anyone to talk to everyone seems so busy. I mean, Lily. and you've seen Sarah haven't you? She's always with a different guy. I don't remember her being that way last year. I wonder what's up with her."  
  
"She's probably just exploring her possibilities. Sirius and I have been doing that for the past three years." he said with a smirk. "That is, before-nevermind. So Hannah then? She's nice. Always a quiet one."  
  
"I knew I'd never hear the end of it," he said as they reached the portrait.  
  
Just then, the portrait swung open and a head of red hair tumbled into James, knocking him to the ground. Lily fell down on top of James and felt her confusion flare up again as she realized who it was she had knocked to the ground. He looked into her brilliant green eyes and recognized her immediately. His face dangerously close to hers, she scrambled to get up as though she were touching fire. He seemed to notice something was wrong with her because he reached to touch her.  
  
"Lily? Are you okay?' James asked concerned.  
  
Remus approached watched as Lily's eyes flickered with an expression he couldn't pin down. She wasn't giving James the same familiar annoyed look she had given him the last six years.  
  
"Lily?" Remus asked after she didn't answer.  
  
"I'm fine. I'm sorry," she said timidly before rushing down the hall.  
  
"What was that?" Remus asked confused.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine," James said thoughtfully. "But if Sirius did anything to hurt her."  
  
"You know he wouldn't." Remus said benevolently.  
  
"Come on let's go find Hannah. Maybe she can also tell us what's wrong with Lily," James said concerned before going into the common room to search for Hannah Spinnet.  
  
***  
  
Lily rushed as far away from the common room as possible. 'Oh boy just what I needed,' she thought to herself. 'All I needed was to bump into James.' His eyes haunted her. His deep hazel eyes had been etched with concern. For the umpteenth, she seemed to be unable to erase him from her mind. 'Maybe I should find Sirius,' she thought wretchedly. She didn't really feel like anything. She wanted to make sense of her thoughts. Hannah. She needed to talk to Hannah. Sarah would only start jumping in and out of her wits about the whole thing. She loved Sarah like a sister, but she wasn't the most serious person she knew. She walked in direction of the Great Hall to search for her friend. Instead she found Sarah making out with a Ravenclaw.  
  
"Sarah!" Lily said appalled. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Oh! Lily!" Sarah said pushing the boy off of her.  
  
Lily pulled Sarah by the arm while Sarah struggled to wave coyly at the boy.  
  
"What is this? What's going on with you?" Lily demanded for once forgetting about boys for the first time in five months. "This is so unlike you Sarah. You know I thought it was just a couple of boys, but it's not is it?"  
  
Sarah avoided her friend's eyes and guiltily stared at the floor. She cursed to herself for being caught like that by her best friend.  
  
"Well? Sarah, please explain this to me!" Lily said again exasperated.  
  
Sarah glanced at Lily and then again at the hall where they were at. "Not here, let's go somewhere to talk."  
  
"Fine. Outside, by the lake," Lily said pulling her friend through the halls until they were outside, in front of the castle, heading towards the edge of the lake as the sun started to come down. "Come on, how about now?"  
  
"It's just plain ol' fun Lily." she said embarrassedly. "Look, I just don't want to go through life thinking I never took advantage of the time I had."  
  
"What-why-why would you even think this way?" Lily asked taken aback.  
  
"Too much time with Professor Iris?" she tried smiling lamely. When Lily didn't accept her excuse she sighed heavily. "l never told you. I never told you my family comes from a long line of seers. They're rare too, as you well know. Not one of my brothers and sisters seemed to have inherited this gift. Well, no one except me. I've developed the gift during all these years. I've gotten quite good at prediction. Too good. I don't like it. Not at all." Her last words seemed mumbled, more as though she were speaking to herself. "It seems silly to spend so much time on boys. to think of them as just a toy, I know. But I had this vision a couple of weeks before we came back. It was a vision of-of well, you-know-who. and he sent an order to kill someone. It felt like a dream. Like I knew what was going to happen and I knew who it was going to happen to--"  
  
She stopped then, as though terrified of what she may say. Tears were welling up in Sarah's bright eyes. The joy and light that shone in them was shaded by the memory of what she was remembering. Lily put an arm around her consolingly and urged her to go on.  
  
"I don't know if it's true. I told Professor Dumbledore about it. He doesn't know what to think of it," she said sadly. "It's a girl, our age, and a wizard."  
  
"Oh my God." Lily said slumping down on the grass. "Is it-is it someone we know?"  
  
Sarah knew what Lily was asking. She sat down in the grass next to her, watching emptily as the sun fell over the mountains.  
  
"I don't know. All I know is that they're important," she said gravely.  
  
"Sarah. it can't be you can it? It couldn't-right?" Lily said scared.  
  
"I don't know Lily." Sarah said looking at her friend.  
  
Lily suddenly felt like a little child who had a bad dream, asking her mother whether the monster underneath her bed were real or not. Sarah, who usually would have made a joke in this situation, seemed different. She looked older; she looked somewhat wiser. It was as though the secret of being able to see into the future was finally taking its toll on her. She would've liked to share her little secret with her friends. However, her parents had always told her it would be for the best if she kept her gift to herself. She had also never, in a million years, thought she would have to see something like she had. She never thought she'd have a vision where she was a death eater, taking an order from the dark Lord, to kill a fellow student. Maybe even herself.  
  
"Does Hannah know?" Lily asked quietly. Sarah shook her head. "Are you going to tell her?"  
  
"I don't think it would be a good idea considering what happened with her aunt. It's still-I don' think it would be good for her to know yet," she said looking down at her hands gingerly. "I'm sorry Lily. I know this is a lot to take in. I mean you just had this fabulous day with Sirius and then this---"  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to go through this by yourself. I should've asked you before. You're like a sister to me Sarah. I'm sorry I've been too distracted to ask you," she said ashamed.  
  
"Distracted? You've been distracted. I've played tonsil-hockey with the better part of the seventh year boys. except the Slytherins." she said giving her friend a smile.  
  
Lily tried to smile but the thought of one of her friends dying-the idea made her stomach churn.  
  
"Professor Dumbledore said we have nothing to worry about yet. Professor McGonagall tried to reassure me that the only thing that-that m-man is scared of is Professor Dumbledore," Sarah said in a more positive tone. "Don't worry Lily. Really don't."  
  
"Are you going to stop? With the boy parade I mean," Lily asked standing up to approach the water.  
  
"Yeah. I think I will," she said thoughtfully. "On the plus side this means no more teasing from you."  
  
She smiled happily at her friend and ran near to where Lily was standing and splashed water her way. Lily retorted by kicking water in her friend's direction.  
  
"But maybe Hannah's right. Maybe you wanted to make Troy jealous!" she yelled out before drenching Sarah with water.  
  
They continued the water fight until they heard the clatter coming from the Great Hall, where the feast had already began. They walked together, wet and slightly more at peace, to the Gryffindor Tower to change. They had resolved to hope for the best, no matter what. They weren't going to fear the 'what could be'. 


	15. Strangers in the dark

Chapter 15  
  
A/N: I sure took my time didn't I? Thank you guys so much for the reviews, I love them. This part is long, Hopefully, it makes up for the time it took me to make it. I hope you like it. Remember: R/R!!!  
  
James walked into the common room after he had bumped into Lily looking for Hannah. He found her sitting by herself by the fireplace. She looked deep in thought, but noticed James come in and gave him a weird look. He was itching to ask her if she knew what was wrong with Lily, but he knew he should explain what she had seen. She was apprehensive as he innocently said hello and asked her how she was doing. Remus just sat in a chair next to Hannah's and listened as James began his explanation.  
  
"I'm fine. I just. it seemed a little odd. I know Remus brought you here. James what-" she seemed to choke out the words nervously.  
  
He still hadn't worked out whether he wanted to reveal to Hannah of all people about his invisibility cloak. He looked over at Remus and saw as he nodded his head at James. He knew what James was thinking. Remus appeared to be saying, 'you can trust her.'  
  
"I was under an invisibility cloak," he started. Her face suddenly etched in understanding and she let out a small laugh.  
  
"You were wearing an invisibility cloak? Phew, I completely didn't think of that. I thought you might've tried apparating and it went wrong or something," Hannah said relieved. "How did you come by an invisibility cloak James?"  
  
"It was my father's, he gave it to me during my first year," he said with a smile.  
  
"Now I get how you all pulled off most of your pranks without getting caught," she laughed. She was about to excuse herself when James' demeanor changed. He tensed up a little as he was about to ask her something.  
  
"Have you talked to Lily today, Hannah?" he asked curiously.  
  
She eyed him warily before answering. "I--this morning, when I was helping her get ready for her date. Why?"  
  
"Well, it's just that Remus and I just saw her dash out of here. We-I was wondering if you knew if something was wrong," he said nervously at her. He seemed genuinely concerned.  
  
"She ran out of here? Did she look upset?" Hannah asked worriedly. "I didn't see her. I guess I was a bit distracted. I just came in myself. I didn't even know she was back. What happened exactly?"  
  
"I don't know, she just basically ran into me coming out of the common room. She-well she fell on me and she got up really nervously. She just looked so--- I don't know, stressed. I'm not sure that's the right word." he said thoughtfully.  
  
"Out of herself," Remus contributed.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," James said deep in thought.  
  
"I think I should go find her. I'll see you both later," Hannah said getting up. She looked back at James, whose face was etched with concern. She wished she could smile at his careful anxiety for her friend. "Thank you for telling me, for worrying about her."  
  
He simply nodded and sat down on the couch, knowing that even if something had gone wrong in her date with Sirius, it wasn't supposed to matter to him.  
  
***  
  
Hannah found Lily and Sarah in the Great Hall later for dinner. She questioned Lily about what James had told her. Lily, who had momentarily forgotten about both boys, felt her heart drop at the mention of them both. She was happy when she didn't remember her confusion. Worse of all, her friends picked up quickly on her change in demeanor.  
  
"So are you going to tell us what you're thinking?" Hannah asked apprehensively.  
  
"It's nothing really. Just thinking about how long this day has been. I mean, the date was great but we walked quite a lot, so I'm really quite tired. I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't Halloween. I've never missed a feast and this is going to be the last one we ever attend. Anyways, you guys know how much I love sweets," she said trying to produce a fake smile.  
  
"Who do you think you're fooling Lily? We've been your best friends since first year. We can tell when you're lying better than anyone else. Now, come on. I think it's time for you to share," Sarah said giving Lily a hard look.  
  
"Really, it's nothing," Lily said again trying to dismiss her friends' comments.  
  
"James said you looked really nervous, out of yourself. I'll put it to you this way Lily. The only time I ever see you tense at all is when we get the results to our tests," Hannah said giving Lily a piercing look.  
  
"You know what? I will tell you, when we are back in the Gryffindor Tower. Alright? Not here though. Too many people." she said looking around. "Now can we please just eat? I mean this is a feast isn't it? And may I remind you both that this is your favorite holiday?"  
  
"Fine. Well, it is." Sarah said taking a piece of pumpkin pie. "But you will tell us later."  
  
Lily nodded annoyed. Hannah looked at her friend still concerned. She looked over at where the marauders were sitting at the other side of the table. They were looking very stiff. She looked around but she couldn't see Sirius anywhere near them. She leaned over to ask Frank where he was.  
  
"Dunno," he answered uninterested. "Probably setting up a prank somewhere."  
  
Aurora, who had heard Hannah ask about Sirius, smiled, and quipped in, "Didn't Lily go out with him today? You should really ask her."  
  
Lily suddenly stopped her conversation with Sarah and some other six years and turned to look at Aurora. Frank's face drew an interested look suddenly and he turned to see Lily's reaction to Aurora's loud comment. Daya, who up until that moment had been sharing gossip with a Ravenclaw, excused herself and went over to her own table.  
  
"Speak louder Aurora, I don't think they heard you over at the Slytherin table," Sarah said slightly angry.  
  
"Well, do you know where he is? You guys are a couple aren't you?" Aurora asked Lily in a softer voice.  
  
"Umm." Lily started uncertainly. Just when she was about to speak, an owl swooped in between the table, surprising everyone in the Gryffindor table. They followed the owl with their eyes and saw it as flew towards the Headmaster. Dumbledore read the parchment the owl had brought him and at once stood up.  
  
"The Halloween Feast is cancelled. Prefects please escort the students back to their common rooms and await for further instructions from your Head of House. Teachers will follow me," he said very seriously.  
  
At once people started getting up and murmuring. They could only think of one thing that their Headmaster would be worried about right now, Voldemort.  
  
***  
  
When the Gryffindors went into the common room that night, there was a lot of fear about a possible attack on Hogwarts. Almost everyone was agreeing that the letter had been a warning to Dumbledore on Voldemort's attack to finally attack the school.  
  
"You're all losing your wits! Voldemort fears Dumbledore, he wouldn't come into the school," Lily said chidingly to some of the older kids. "Besides, you're getting the first years worried."  
  
A few of the other prefects were talking to other kids too, reassuring them that everything was going to be alright. They didn't seem as confident as Lily when they said it though. As a matter of fact, the only other people who were as confident that the situation didn't involve Voldemort's break in to the school, were the marauders. Well, at least three of them. It took a little over half an hour until James after finally looking around, not finding Sirius, began asking people if they had seen them. It turned out that no one had seen him since he had come back with Lily from Hogsmeade.  
  
"I think we should ask her," James said worried.  
  
"What do you want to ask her?" Remus asked looking concerned.  
  
"If she knows if he was coming to dinner, if she saw him before dinner," James said looking from across the room as Lily talked to a young red- headed first year who looked rather worried. "You're right maybe we should ask her," Remus said deep in thought.  
  
"Maybe he's up in the dormitory," Peter piped in.  
  
"I thought you said you had checked the dormitory," James said to Remus hoping that Remus hadn't checked.  
  
"I didn't. I thought you were going to," Remus said in a relieved voice. He gave a slight chuckle and smiled. "Well, let's look for him upstairs."  
  
They were disappointed, however, when they didn't find him upstairs like they had expected to. James was looking quite anxious, while Remus was pacing thoughtfully around the common room.  
  
"Why don't we check the map?" Remus suggested.  
  
"Good idea, except that he has it." James said dryly.  
  
"I'm sure he's fine," Peter said unconcerned from his seat by the fire. "He's probably just walking around."  
  
"Hmm. I suddenly feel like a parent," Remus said jokingly.  
  
"What could make Dumbledore cancel a feast like that?" James said edgily.  
  
***  
  
They finally decided to ask Lily. Remus approached her as she finished speaking with the last group of students left in the common room.  
  
"It'll be fine, you'll see. Don't worry about it. Why don't you all just head to bed? There'll be news in the morning," she said confidently. The kids agreed, convinced by her reassurance, left and Remus and James approached her. She looked at their concerned faces and stood up. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Um, we were wondering if you had seen Sirius at all since this afternoon," he said fretfully.  
  
She looked around for him realizing that she hadn't seen him at all that night. She looked at both boys almost at a loss for words. Where was Sirius?  
  
"You don't know where he is?" she drawled out beginning to worry. "Where was he for dinner? I noticed he wasn't with you guys."  
  
"We don't know either. We assumed he didn't want to go to the Halloween feast," James supplied.  
  
"No, he made it seem as though he would be there, now that I come to think of it. I suppose you already checked the dormitory?" she asked. Remus nodded and she continued. "Maybe he went somewhere to think. Well, do you know if he was planning a prank?"  
  
"No. I don't think he was. Not after-not today," Remus said frustrated.  
  
"I think that maybe we need to go look for him," she said rather worried. "Or at least go alert someone that he's missing."  
  
"We could get him in trouble if it turns out he was just in the kitchens though," James said thoughtfully.  
  
"Well, it'd be worse if he's in trouble. Rather be safe than sorry," Lily said glancing at her watch. It was late, she noted, almost midnight.  
  
"Well, at least one of us should stay here in case he comes back. I think Peter already fell asleep on the sofa though. I'll stay, why don't you two go?" Remus volunteered.  
  
Lily and James both agreed and walked out of the almost empty common room. Once they were outside, Lily looked at the opposite sides of the hall looking almost lost.  
  
"Where should we start?" she asked.  
  
"Maybe we should start at kitchens. This way," he said leading the way.  
  
"How do you know where the kitchens are?" she asked curiously.  
  
"You sort of learn things when you spend so much time making trouble and exploring the school," he said.  
  
She wanted to ask him why he tried so hard to stir up trouble, but contained herself. She let her mind wander for a moment. She was trying not to think that something might've happened to Sirius. She was a having a hard time reassuring herself however that everything was alright. The questions that had surfaced in her mind when the headmaster had received, the letter began making their way back to her. What had the letter been about? Had it really involved a warning that Voldemort might attack? Had he attacked somewhere nearby? She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't hear when James told her they had arrived at their destination.  
  
"Lily?" he said trying to stir her from her thoughts. She blinked twice before focusing James. She gave him a questioning look. "We're here."  
  
"Sorry," she mumbled as he tickled the pear in the portrait. She watched surprised as the pear became a door handle and they made their way inside. "Wow. know your secret passageways well don't you?"  
  
He gave her a small smile and walked towards the tables when suddenly an elf appeared out of nowhere and scared Lily so that she took a hold of James' arm. He grinned at her reaction and put his free hand on hers.  
  
"There's nothing to worry about. It's just Tily," he said warmly. He looked down at the elf who was beaming at him, eager to be of service. Lily let go of his arm hastily.  
  
"Can we helps you Mr. Potter. Would you and your friend like anything to eat, drink?" the elf asked excitedly. A few more elves appeared suddenly and Lily, surprised every time more appeared etched closer to James.  
  
"We are looking for Sirius Tily, has he been here?" James asked the elves.  
  
"No sir, we have not. We have not seen him since you came in with cockroach clusters for-" Tily started.  
  
"-that's alright. Thank you," he interrupted turning a shade of red. "Thanks anyways."  
  
He pulled Lily outside hastily and a suspicious look made her way to her face.  
  
"What was Tily going to say? You didn't put something in my food again did you?" she asked giving him a piercing look.  
  
"Not you." he provided avoiding her eyes. "Come on let's go find Sirius."  
  
She looked annoyed for a moment, but at the mention of Sirius' name, thought better than to start a fight.  
  
"Where then now? Don't you think we should look for a teacher?" she provided looking around at the empty halls.  
  
"I think we'll get in trouble. We were supposed to wait in the common room for instructions," he said as he started down the hall.  
  
"Yeah, but it's important. A student is missing. Not to mention we don't know whether that letter may be the reason why Sirius has been nowhere in sight for almost five hours now." she said following after him. "Where are we going?"  
  
"To Hagrid's, maybe he went there," he said leading the way to the grounds.  
  
She followed him reluctantly. She wanted to alert a teacher that Sirius was missing. Then again, James was right. They would get in trouble. As a matter of fact, right now, she was surprised they hadn't been caught by Filch. She wondered whether that was the reason James was leading them outside. Less chances of getting caught. She imagined however that Hagrid wouldn't be in his hut. He would've been included in the new about the letter by Dumbledore. After all, Hagrid always mentioned that Dumbledore trusted him completely. She could say she trusted too. There were few people like Hagrid in the world, who you could trust fully; even if he did have a dangerous love for deadly animals.  
  
"Hagrid won't be there," she announced to James.  
  
"I know, but Sirius might've gone there anyways to have some time alone," he supplied walking towards the little hut.  
  
It was dark enough for them not to be able to see where they were going and Lily stumbled on to James a couple of times. She muttered something about preferring not to be out in the dark when it was new moon, but as they arrived to the little hut, their vision cleared with the light coming from inside. James knocked on the door a couple of times, without getting a response. After the third knock, when there was still no reply, he tried opening the door. They walked in and found the place empty.  
  
"Where to now then?" James said frustrated.  
  
"To the teachers--" she started.  
  
"No, not yet. There are still places where he could be." James said thoughtfully. He considered all the passageways he could have been at. He could've gone to the shrieking shack or to Hogsmeade, over to the stores. Or maybe he was just wandering through the passageways; he knew no one would disturb him. He couldn't, though, search through those places with Lily. He wished more than ever he had the Marauder's map with him them. The map would allow him to find Sirius, let him know whether he was still in Hogwarts or perhaps in Hogsmeade. He started considering the thought of looking aimlessly around for him. Perhaps it would just be better to wait him out in the common room. But before he could say anything to Lily about going back to the Gryffindor Tower, he heard voices coming from behind the hut, near the forest. He took Lily's hand and quickly pulled Lily down so they were out of view from outside. He put his other hand over her mouth to keep her from asking what was wrong. She gave him a questioning look, which he ignored. Apparently, she hadn't heard anything yet. He didn't want to get caught. He could see from where they were standing the two shapes, covered in black cloaks, with their faces covered. At first he couldn't hear what the voices were saying, but as they seemed to be getting closer, he began to make out what they were saying.  
  
"--I think they were lucky. Not many people easily escape him. He wanted them dead that's for sure. The master will be awfully angry at us." a male voice said in a hushed voice.  
  
"He'll be calling us soon. But I had to take advantage of tonight. No one would have suspected. That fool Dumbledore would never suspect anything from me." a female voice whispered. She sounded familiar.  
  
"He better not. We need someone at the school to keep an eye on things. The Dark Lord's power is growing and soon we will attack the school," the first voice said dramatically.  
  
"I fear Dumbledore might know, however, that there's a spy within his school. He was very furtive with details about what happened tonight," the familiar voice said warily.  
  
"What does he know?" the male voice asked worriedly.  
  
James eyed Lily in the dark; he noticed that she was now paying a very rapt attention to the conversation as well. He pulled his hand from her mouth but was still holding her hand from when they had hidden. He had felt her hand tense up when the woman had called Dumbledore a fool. He had heard the man's voice drop lower at the last question and wanted to move a little closer. He gave a couple of steps, which made the wood beneath his feet creak slightly. The sound made Lily wince and they stood still, holding their breath, hoping that the cloaked figures hadn't heard the sound.  
  
"He-" at that moment the woman stopped talking. "Did you hear that?"  
  
"Is Hagrid here?" the man said glancing in direction of the hut.  
  
"No, he's still with Dumbledore. He kept the heads of house behind, along with Hagrid and some other people," the woman said looking around. "We should leave. I have to get back to the school and you should go report what happened."  
  
The man nodded and they walked in opposite directions. James watched anxiously as the woman started walking away. Suddenly, the man turned and said one last thing.  
  
"Kyrie, you better not be late the next time," he said making her stop and turn around.  
  
"I won't," she turned and walked away briskly.  
  
James and Lily stood in the hut processing what they just heard. If they had heard correctly, the school had a spy, someone had been attacked, and the school was in trouble. As if that wasn't enough, they still didn't know where Sirius was. Lily walked carefully to the other side of the hut and watched through the window as the unknown professor walked up the stairs into the castle. She turned to see James sunk in Hagrid's chair near the fire, with his head in his hands.  
  
"What do we do now?" she asked in a desperate whisper.  
  
"We go to Dumbledore. Tell him what we heard," James provided sounding tired.  
  
"What about Sirius?" she questioned him sounding lost.  
  
"Well, from what we heard, he probably wasn't involved. I don't know. he's probably just wandering around. We made this into so much more than it was." he said looking back at Lily.  
  
"So we go see Dumbledore right now?" Lily said stepping closer to James. "Well, let's go then."  
  
They left the hut, deep in thought thinking that it had been one of the longest days ever. 


	16. What was once lost

Chapter 16  
  
A/N: Here it is. Sirius' return. I hope you guys like it. Thanx for the reviews. Remember to leave more! :D  
  
They walked carefully up towards the castle, looking cautiously around the halls for any signs of a cloaked teacher. Lily was reviewing the conversation they had overheard in her head slowly. The cloaked man had called the other person Kyrie. Did they know anyone with that name?  
  
"Do we have any professors named Kyrie?" she said out loud thoughtfully.  
  
"I don't think so," James said surprising Lily.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't realize I had said it." she said self-consciously.  
  
"Hmm. I was thinking about it too. It has to be a nickname of some sorts. Dumbledore will know." he said pensive.  
  
They walked along in silence until they arrived to the statue of the stone gargoyle which guarded the way to Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Do you know the password?" James asked looking embarrassed.  
  
"You do realize that the head boy and girl are supposed to know the password to the Headmaster's Office. How come you don't know it?" she asked giving him an annoyed look.  
  
"I sort of forgot it." he avoided her eyes.  
  
"Lemon drop," she said mildly annoyed.  
  
The statue sprung to life and moved out of the way. They made their way to the antechamber before the office and knocked softly. They knocked for about ten minutes, with no answer. It seemed that there wasn't anyone in there.  
  
"Let's just go Lily. He's obviously not here," James said looking at her tiredly. "It's understandable. There was an attack, maybe he's still talking to the heads of house. We'll have to come and talk to him tomorrow."  
  
Lily finally gave in and they walked back towards the common room dejectedly.  
  
"Do you think Sirius is back in the common room already?" Lily said suddenly remembering the reason they had left Gryffindor tower in the first place.  
  
"I hope so," James said looking sideways at her. "I guess if he's not, we'll have to go tell the teachers."  
  
"We should've done that since the beginning," she said sounding rather annoyed.  
  
"Well, Remus might've told McGonagall if she went up there already. In which case, she'll be really upset with both of us," said James as-a-matter- of-factly.  
  
"I doubt we won't be," she retorted. She sighed heavily. "We'll just have to explain."  
  
Then without warning, James slipped and fell. There was water all over the floor and something seemed to have fallen out of James' pocket. Lily helped him up with a small grin and reached to pick up what seemed to be a mirror. She looked at it curiously.  
  
"Oh, I bet that was Peeves," James muttered annoyed.  
  
"What's this?" she asked examining the squared mirror.  
  
He looked up from his now damp robes and saw Lily holding the mirror. He looked surprised for a moment and then he gave her a bright smile.  
  
"I can't believe I forgot!" he said almost delighted at the sight of the little mirror. He walked over to her and took the mirror. "It's a two-way mirror. It slipped my mind that I had it with me." He looked into the mirror, faced his own reflection, and said clearly as possible 'Sirius'.  
  
He looked into the mirror impatiently, hoping his friend was carrying it. He was about to put the mirror away when a sleepy-looking Sirius appeared on the mirror.  
  
"Hey, what's going on?" he said looking drowsy.  
  
"Where the ruddy hell are you?" he almost screamed.  
  
"James!" Lily hissed grabbing his arm.  
  
"Is Lily with you?" Sirius asked unbelieving.  
  
"Yeah, we've been looking all over for you? Where are you?" James asked again irritated. Lily leaned over his shoulder to look at Sirius through the mirror.  
  
"I'm up at the north tower. I guess I fell asleep," he said looking around and scratching his head. "I came up here to think and next thing I know, I woke up after hearing you on the mirror. What time is it?"  
  
"Let me see," Lily looked down at her watch and gave James a wide-eyed look. "Oh, it's close to two in the morning."  
  
"We'll meet you at the bottom stairs," James replied into the mirror.  
  
"Okay, I'll be right there," he said disappearing from sight.  
  
"I feel relieved," Lily said smiling. "Let's go, before we run into one of the teachers, or worse, Filch."  
  
"I'm surprised we haven't run into Filch. He usually guards these halls like if we were in prison," James commented walking hushed to the north tower.  
  
"What do you think though?" Lily inquired suspiciously. "Doesn't it seem a bit odd to you that he fell asleep? I mean, Sirius doesn't quite strike me as the taking-a-nap type of guy."  
  
"Well, you guys did have a good walk didn't you?" he said through gritted teeth.  
  
"Yeah." Lily said eyeing him uncertainly.  
  
"Maybe he was feeling tired," James said almost bitterly at the memory of Lily and Sirius kissing.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she said confused.  
  
"Nothing," he said looking apologetic. It wasn't her fault she didn't like him.  
  
They arrived at the bottom of the tower to find Sirius waiting for them already. Lily rushed to his side and hugged him at once.  
  
"We were worried about you." she said looking abashed as she stepped back.  
  
"Maybe I should disappear more often," he said softly to her.  
  
He looked at James, who looked somewhat angry for a moment, but seemed to swallow his feelings as he stepped towards Sirius and gave him a weak smile.  
  
"We were," he said plainly. He turned grave after that. "There was some sort of attack in Hogsmeade."  
  
"An attack? What do you mean? Voldemort?" he said worriedly. "How do you know?"  
  
"We overheard some people talking about it, outside of Hagrid's hut when we were looking for you," Lily supplied. "We should get back to the common room. Remus will be waiting to hear from us."  
  
"You're right, let's go," James said glancing down the hall.  
  
They walked carefully back to the common room, still surprised that there was no one in the halls. Sirius distracted Lily while James looked at the map, which Sirius had slipped into his friend's robe. He had given Sirius a confused look and signaled for them to go on towards the Gryffindor tower. It appeared that none of the teachers where to be found on the map. They reached the Gryffindor common room to find a very tired Remus asleep on the couch closest to the fire. They stirred him awake, and while he had been relieved to see Sirius, he also mentioned that Professor McGonagall had not been up to the common room yet. Lily, James, and Sirius sat down near Remus. Sirius explained to Remus that he had fallen asleep at the North Tower, while Lily and James told them what had happened outside the hut.  
  
"That's odd isn't it? We know what happened," James said confused. "They probably do too by now."  
  
"They're just probably taking all the necessary precautions," Lily piped in. She looked at the fire for a moment before letting out a yawn.  
  
"You're tired." Sirius said regrettably. "I'm sorry I had you guys worried. I don't know what happened. I was wide awake and then-Lily, why don't you go to sleep?"  
  
"No, I want to wait to see if Professor McGonagall comes." she said firmly.  
  
"I think I'll stay with you," James said detached. "I don't think I could go asleep with all the questions in my mind."  
  
"I will too. I don't really feel like sleeping," Sirius said walking towards the table near the window. He picked up his bag and brought it over to the table. "Anyone want a chocolate frog?"  
  
Lily stretched out her arm to take one. James just shook his head while staring emptily at the fire. He seemed to be deep in thought and while Lily and Sirius chit-chatted he seemed almost absent.  
  
"Does he always get like this?" Lily asked in an almost whisper as she stole a glance in James direction.  
  
"He does not always get like this," James said not taking his eyes off of the fire.  
  
"He does from time to time, but he's not deaf," said Sirius letting out a soft chuckle.  
  
James grinned slightly at the joke and looked at an embarrassed Lily for a second. She was blushing slightly. He thought she looked prettier than usual.  
  
"I'm sorry, but you looked like you weren't even in the same room." she said avoiding looking at him.  
  
"He only gets that when he wants to work a problem out. And when there's not a lot of people around," Sirius commented. He picked up another frog and threw one over to James, which he caught without having to take his eyes from the fire. "He's very aware of everything around him. That's why he's such a good chaser."  
  
"How about you though?" Lily said to Sirius. "You're a pretty good beater."  
  
"Thanks." he said smiling brightly. "I try my best. It's a hard but pleasant job hitting that bludger."  
  
"Especially when you hit it against people like. oh I don't know, Malfoy or Avery?" she said with a knowing grin.  
  
"Oh it's a special treat when I get to hit them. It used to make my day. It's a pity Snape isn't on the team. I'd love to-" he said before catching Lily's disapproving looks. "I know it isn't nice, but hey, the bloke's a jerk."  
  
"Well a lot of people are unpleasant-" Lily started.  
  
"We can't tell Dumbledore," he said almost inaudible. Both Lily and Sirius had heard him though and they were gave him agape looks. "Not yet anyways."  
  
"What do you mean? We have to tell him," Lily rebutted.  
  
"Not yet?" Sirius questioned.  
  
"We have to know who's behind it. We should know which teacher it is we're going to accuse," he explained.  
  
"Don't you think he'll know? He hand picks his teachers James. It's not like he doesn't know these people at all," Lily rationalized.  
  
While Lily looked very hesitant to follow with the proposed idea, Sirius looked mildly excited by the idea.  
  
"It'd be our own little detective work. Dumbledore does have a lot to worry about already," Sirius piped in.  
  
"This is what he's worried about!" Lily argued. "We have to tell him something!"  
  
"Maybe this isn't what the owl was about. I mean think abut it. All we heard was that woman, whoever she is, fears that Dumbledore may know that there's a spy in the school. She didn't say anything about the teacher meeting being about that," James provided.  
  
"What if it is?" Lily tried again.  
  
"We'll find out when McGonagall arrives won't we?" he said simply.  
  
"Sirius? Come on, you can't think this is rational!" Lily said trying to get Sirius' support.  
  
"I agree with James. After all, right now we don't know anything," he said getting a frustrated look from Lily. "Anyways, McGonagall will tell you both what happened, along with all the other prefects. We should just wait until we know so we can decide a better course of action."  
  
"I don't think I've ever heard you use the terms 'wait and see'," James said amused.  
  
"New influences," Sirius said brightly. "It's a new approach. I thought I'd give it a shot."  
  
"I can't believe the both of you," Lily muttered. She looked down at the carpet deep in thought and then looked up to both boys defeated. "Fine, but if it is about the spy, then we'll go to him."  
  
"If it's not?" Sirius inquired looking eager.  
  
"If not. we'll do things your way," she said through gritted teeth.  
  
Sirius smiled and threw a piece of chocolate into his mouth, shook his head slightly, and revealed only for a moment, though neither James and Lily were looking, a black scorched bite mark at the back of his neck. 


	17. Unknown attacks

**Chapter 17  
  
**

a/n: ok I think I managed to get rid of my writer's block! I did it! I finished my part and it's not that short. It is not that long either but I think I'm happy with it. Guys, you should tell me if I'm getting repetitive. I'm not so sure about some parts of this chapter. I know some of you really just want me to skip over to the tutoring but it appears I've built a thicker plot than I had originally planned, but I'm getting to it and I think you guys are gonna like it, so don't lose hope and please keep reading… and reviewing! I hope this is 2 ur enjoyment! Happy reading.  


  
When Professor McGonagall came into Gryffindor Tower, it was 7 am. It seemed she had assumed that everyone had been asleep already. James, Sirius, and Lily had all fallen asleep in the common room in front of the fire. She had woken them up and called the prefects along with Lily and James to talk with her in her office in half an hour. They still didn't know what was going on. So Lily had gone upstairs to wash up and get ready for the day. James and Sirius had walked over to the dormitory talking about the one thing they couldn't decipher. Why hadn't the map worked last night?  
  


"I'm telling you, I couldn't find any of the teachers on it. It was as though they had disappeared," James said looking troubled.  
  


"Maybe it was a glitch on the map. We just have to work on it," Sirius said serenely. He looked in a side glance at James before speaking again. "Hey, are we okay?"  
  


His serious tone spoke volumes to his friend. He wanted to know if he was forgiven yet about Lily. James looked away for a moment and put his hands in his pockets, at once feeling the cool surface of the two-way mirror. He remembered last night and being worried about his best friend.  
  


"We're okay," he said giving Sirius a smile. Sirius' serious face turned at once into a wide smile. "Just don't get lost like that again."  
  


"So you're going to go down to the meeting right?" Sirius asked getting his things ready to go take a shower.  
  


"Yeah, head boy responsibility. Wake Remus up would ya?" he said walking out towards the bathroom.  
  


***  
  


When they walked downstairs to Professor McGonagall's office, Lily could feel herself fidgeting about the situation. The whole matter of James ad Sirius' kisses had been put on hold until she knew what was going on. She walked alongside Remus and James jiggling.   
  


"What do you think she'll tell us?" she asked them quietly.  
  


"She'll tell us only what we need to know," Remus replied calmly. He looked at the nervous Lily and gave her a weak smile. "There's nothing to worry about. Not yet anyways."  
  


"I have a bad feeling about this. I think… I don't know. I talked to Sarah before I came down. Sarah couldn't sleep well all night—" she stopped herself before revealing her friend's secret. Sarah had told her she had seen people in danger. People she knew dying. She had been crying in her sleep when Lily had gone upstairs. Lily had woken her up, comforted her, telling her that everything would be alright. She wasn't sure that it would be. She tried shifting her thoughts towards the spy. "Do you think it will be about the woman?"  
  


"It's probably about the attack," James contributed.   
  


They walked into McGonagall's office to find the other prefects were there already. It seemed, they were the last ones. They sat down as they waited for the professor to tell them the news of what had happened.  
  


"There was a Death Eater attack last night," she started. At once a few students gasped. "The attack was on the family on one of the students. All night, the staff spent time trying to find as much information about this assault as possible, but we haven't been able to get any information on who it was. Until further notice, all trips to Hogsmeade will be cancelled. Hopefully we'll have more information on everything today, though right now, it doesn't seem likely. You are all to make sure, now more than ever, that all students are in their common rooms before nine. This is a precaution measure the Headmaster has instructed us to take for the safety of everyone else. I trust you will all follow these instructions."   
  


She gave a look in James direction as she said that. She dismissed them and they walked out of the room dejectedly.  
  


"What if it's someone we know?" Lily said sadly. She looked down at the floor and stopped for a moment. She looked so concentrated for a moment before finally stopping. "I need to go talk to Sarah."  
  


With that she walked away from both boys towards the Gryffindor Common Room. James gave Remus a confused look.  
  


"What does Sarah have anything to do with it?" James asked Remus perplexed.  
  


Remus just shrugged as they walked towards the Great Hall.  
  


***  
  


Lily made her way to the Gryffindor common room worriedly. She had to know who it was that Sarah had seen in her visions. Whoever it had been, it was probably them who had been attacked. However, when she had gone up to the dormitory to get her, she was gone and Hannah said she hadn't seen her. Hannah, as a matter of fact, had been sleeping. 'Nothing ever wakes her up,' Lily thought scornfully. She wanted to be angry at Hannah for not having been there for Sarah. But who could blame a person who slept like a log and didn't know what was going on in their best friend's mind? After all, Hannah didn't know Sarah had visions about the future. But where was Sarah now? She must have been extremely worried and confused. She had to find her. She walked downstairs leaving a very confused Hannah behind. It was Sirius' disappearance all over again. She searched the Great Hall, she looked for her in the library, in the infirmary, and then finally when she was about to give up, she found her in front of the lake. She was under a great tree sitting Indian-style, eyes closed, and taking deep breaths. She appeared as calm as she had ever seen her, as if she were practicing yoga.  
  


"Sarah? Are you okay?" Lily asked approaching her worriedly.  
  


Sarah jumped at the sound of her friend's voice. While she looked calm, her eyes reflected a great amount of worry. She waved Lily closer as if she were going to whisper.  
  


"I've been trying to clear my mind. I thought maybe if my head wasn't so cluttered with all these thoughts and ideas—that maybe then I'd see—that I'd see who it was that was attacked," she said in a voice not much louder than a whisper.  
  


"Have you seen anything to help know who they are?" Lily asked sitting right next to her.  
  


"No!" her friend said desperately. "I just can't get a clear picture in my mind. I'm really scared. It's—it's not just that. Someone… someone close to us—there's something wrong. I can feel it. Feel it with every sense in my being. I don't know Lily; I just think I'm going insane."  
  


Lily was heartbroken at the sight of her usually cheerful friend broken down. It was as if that person had somehow vanished into thin air. The only thing left was a girl with much more than she could bear.  
  


"We have to tell someone about your visions Sarah. You can't handle this alone. I want to help you, but I—well, I honestly don't know how. We should go to Professor Iris, maybe she'll know what to do… or to the infirmary. I just don't know," said Lily trying to think of a solution.  
  


"They won't be able to help. They won't help---" Sarah muttered angrily. She looked at the lake for a bit and then turned to Lily. "I'm sorry Lils, I know you want to help, but right now, I doubt anyone can."  
  


"How about Dumbledore? Sarah, we could tell Dumbledore," she said in a hopeful voice.  
  


"I don't--- what if it's just my imagination? What if they're all just bad dreams?" Sarah said trying to keep from going to the headmaster.   
  


"Why don't you want to see Dumbledore?" Lily asked concerned. "You know he could help you."  
  


"What if he thinks I'm crazy? What if he then thinks I'm a Death Eater and he kicks me out of school? No Lily, I can't tell him and you have to promise me you won't tell him either!"   
  


"But Sarah he could—" Lily started.  
  


"No. You have to promise me Lily. You can't tell anyone! I am trusting in you!" Sarah said urgently.  
  


"Okay," Lily said defeated.  
  


She finally convinced Sarah into going back to the castle with her and talked her into going to the infirmary and telling madam Pomfrey she felt really bad so that she would let have some sleeping draught. Since the young nurse didn't normally ask too many questions, she gave her some of the potion, letting the young girl fall straight into a dreamless sleep.  
  


***  
  


Sirius kept dozing off while waiting for his friends to come back to Gryffindor tower. He was lying in his four post bed, his eyes closing every once in a while. He kept waking up however, to the annoying itch at the back of his neck. He muttered annoyed around the 15th time he scratched his bite mark about 'stupid bugs at the North Tower'. He was regretting having gone up there at all. He finally managed to fall asleep for five minutes when a dream began to stir in his mind.   
  


_Watching out of the top of the North Tower, Sirius could see the grounds, the lake, and the forbidden forest. He kept playing over his memory of Lily in the middle of the road leading back to Hogwarts in his mind. He was smiling goofily at his thoughts of the whole afternoon they had spent together. He had come where he was now to think about what had happened. He stood there rather tiredly thinking that there was still a long time before he could see her again at the Halloween Feast. He was sure to look for her but with so much time to go; he didn't really know what to do with himself. He had thought about looking for James, to see if things between them could be solved, but he doubted they would sort anything out. Peter was sure to be hanging around his idol and Remus would be off studying, something which he would prefer not to be doing. He walked down to the second floor and into a corridor when he heard a clatter come from a classroom. His curiosity took the better of him and he walked inside stupidly and saw something he was not meant to have seen. In the middle of the classroom was standing a cloaked man with his sleeve rolled up showing someone he couldn't quite see, the dark mark, seal of Voldemort's Death Eaters, glowing and obviously calling them forth to him. To the side were desk he must've tipped over angrily, but before Sirius could even make another move, the man raised his wand and cried out, 'stupefy!'  
  
_

Sirius began to awaken to the sound of angry hushed voices coming from nearby. He kept his eyes closed, remembering what had happened.  
  


"You shouldn't have come!" a woman said angrily. "Look what you've done! What are we to do now?"  
  


"He's not important right now. I have a solution for the boy!" a man said angrily. "Kyrie, you know what you must do! You have to be there tonight. We don't have nearly enough people yet for this mission."  
  


"I know, I know. But how can I possibly get away from Hogwarts today? This is an ill-time indeed to come up with such a harsh plan. Why does he want this done today? I'll never come back in time. They'll notice that I'm missing. I'm a teacher and I have to be at that dratted banquet tonight. It'll look suspicious if I'm not there!" the woman named Kyrie said annoyed. "There's no possible way that--- there must be someone who can replace me."  
  


"Amitt, would I be asking you to so blatantly endanger your position here if there were? The Dark Lord has his reasons and he has requested that you be the one that directs this attack. He says the Bones must perish in your hands," the man said urgently.  
  


At those words, Sirius almost gasped in surprise. He recognized both names. Professor Amitt and Bones—could they possibly be taking about Sarah's family? They had to be. He wondered for a minute if there was anyway he could warn anyone of the plan that was underway. If he had heard correctly, the Bones were on death row right now. He knew however that the chances of him escaping his captors were highly unlikely.  
  


"Shut up! Haven't you gotten into enough trouble! What if he wakes up? What if he hears this? What are you planning to do? You can't kill him without rising suspicion to anyone in this school!" she said annoyed. "I will not have suspicion rise about our dealings in the school. What do you propose we do?"  
  


"I know of an insect known as the black scorpion scarab. This little creature's bite will inject a mind controlling liquid into its prey. We can make that work for us. We need a little insight on the going-ons in this school outside of what you report and what better way to have more spies than to have a student as our own. Specially a student like this one," the man said drawlingly.  
  


"I have to admit that's a good idea…" Kyrie said sounding impressed. "Have you ever used it before?"  
  


"That would be the only draw back. He would be a--- experiment of sorts," he said tentatively.  
  


"I'm not sure then… what if something goes wrong? Why not just use the imperius curse?" she said hesitantly.  
  


"Because… Well, he won't remember Kyrie. He would have no memory of what he has done. He wouldn't be conscious he's doing it… almost as though he were sleep walking," the man said excitedly.  
  


"Fine. Do as you wish, in any case who am I to stop you?" she said carelessly. "You better hope it works though. Otherwise you'll be responsible for our demise---"  
  


Suddenly Sirius was pulled out of his dream by the sound of a slamming door. For a moment he remembered everything in his dream, but the moment he scratched the bite mark at the back of his neck, all his memories were gone once more.  



	18. The Missing Person

Chapter 18: The Missing Person  
  
A/N: Hey guys, here's the next part. I hope you like it, this is a very rushed part bc while so far I have taken my time to let everything happen, in this one I think I try to hurry it up a bit. Thanks for the reviews. Just for the record, elfin child, now known as captain oblivious, I like both pen names. Remember R&R!!!  
  
"We talked to McGonagall," James announced to Sirius. He noticed his friend looking distraught but when he was about to ask him if something was wrong, any sign of that emotion disappeared.  
  
"What did she say? What happened?" Sirius asked sleepily.  
  
"Not much. She said a family had been attacked, but they don't know who," James replied frustrated. "I sent an owl to my parents, as did Remus. what if its one of our families?"  
  
"I doubt it would be mine." Sirius said plainly. "Everything will be fine, you'll see. No need to worry."  
  
"You sound too calm," Remus said looking at him oddly. "Are you okay?"  
  
"I'm quite alright. Where is---umm---?" he asked trying to remember a name, while the boys looked at him confused..  
  
"Lily? She went to find Sarah," James said examining Sirius. "She said she had to talk to her. Are you sure you're alright?"  
  
It wasn't like Sirius to act so nonchalant at the mention of ill news. He would've encouraged the investigation they had talked about before. He would've encouraged a plan to find out what the teachers knew, even if it meant breaking school rules. Actually he would've preferred to do it if it meant breaking school rules.  
  
"I feel cooped up, care for a walk?" he said interrupting James' thoughts.  
  
"Yeah sure," James agreed still looking at him warily.  
  
They walked down to the common room, where Sirius seemed to take an odd curiosity for other people's conversation and looked rather lost when James and Remus called him to get his attention.  
  
"Maybe a bit of fresh air would do you good," Remus suggested.  
  
"Yes, fresh air. that does sound good," Sirius said looking around for the exit looking rather lost.  
  
"Sirius? What are you doing?" James asked as he headed towards a bathroom door. "I thought you wanted to go out."  
  
Sirius stopped and looked back at James and Remus who had been walking to the opposite direction. "Yeah right. Leave. Lead the way." His merry voice disconcerted both boys even more, but they led Sirius out of the common room.  
  
"I think last night might've made you ill," Remus said as they walked to the grounds.  
  
"How do you mean?" Sirius asked looking apprehensive. "What about last night?"  
  
"Well, sleeping in the cold of the North tower appears to have done you no good. You looked a bit lost up in the common room," Remus said as they walked down a corridor.  
  
"Yes---yes, that's right," Sirius said positively cheerful. He muttered under his breath as though trying to memorize the idea. "Last night I slept at the North Tower."  
  
"That's right mate, you did," James said looking at his friend worriedly.  
  
How was it possible that he was only sounding odd until that morning? He had seemed like the same old Sirius when they had stayed up waiting for McGonagall in the common room. He saw from the corner of his eye as Sirius scratched something on the back of his neck, which was obstructed by his hair. He was about to ask him what it was that had bit him when someone stumbled against Sirius, making him fall down to the floor.  
  
"I'm terrible sorry," Professor Ammit, their arithmancy teacher said as she regained her posture.  
  
Remus helped Sirius up, who looked lost for a moment and then looked at their professor confused. The professor looked at Sirius curiously before excusing herself and walking down the corridor hastily.  
  
"What was that?" Sirius asked James confused. "What are we doing here?"  
  
"We're walking down to the grounds, honestly Sirius, maybe you should go get yourself checked out at the hospital wing," Remus said as they walked down the stairs.  
  
Sirius gave Remus a confused look before walking ahead of both boys. He headed towards the Quidditch Pitch, leaving Remus and James to follow after him. When he was far away enough so that he couldn't hear both of them whisper, Remus turned to James.  
  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that almost wasn't Sirius back there," Remus said looking concerned.  
  
"Of course it is! He just doesn't feel well. What do you expect? He spent most of the night in the North Tower, he probably caught a bug," James said dismissively. "He just needs some rest."  
  
Remus looked at James for a moment thoughtfully before speaking again. "Well, at least--I'm glad everything is okay between the both of you again."  
  
James avoided Remus eyes at his last comment. He wasn't exactly okay with the idea of Sirius and Lily, but then again what could he do about it. It was obvious Lily didn't care for him, not in the way he wanted her to.  
  
"It's her choice isn't it? She can't help who she likes," he said in a choked voice. "Besides we have more important things to worry about."  
  
He was right of course and Remus knew it. There was a mystery to unravel and they didn't know where to start.  
  
"About this whole investigation thing---I know you guys want to try to help and everything but maybe the best way to help would be to just go to Dumbledore about this," Remus said looking uncertain.  
  
"You don't think we can handle this? Come on Moony, he's got a lot to deal with. Look, I'm not saying we're going to tackle these people down and fight 'em, I just think we need something to support any allegations we have. We'd be accusing a teacher. Do you realize how serious that is?" James said trying to convince Remus of his point of view. "We don't even know who this person is; we don't know who we'd be accusing."  
  
"I guess. it just-it seems like something we shouldn't keep to ourselves is all," Remus said still unconvinced.  
  
"We're not. Lily is helping isn't she? If she agreed to help, I would think you'd be more on board," James said persuasively.  
  
"Talk about peer pressure," Remus said with a defeated laughter.  
  
"So you're in right?" James said happily.  
  
"Somebody else has to baby-sit you guys when Lily isn't around," Remus said jokingly.  
  
"Why did we come out here to begin with?" Sirius said suddenly looking annoyed. "Don't we need to be worrying about what McGonagall said?"  
  
They looked at him bewildered at his words.  
  
"You seemed completely unaffected by them when we first told you," James said puzzled.  
  
"I-" Sirius looked at him thoughtfully. "I guess it took time sinking in. How are we gonna go about this then? We need to find out who this person is. What you heard is directly connected to this. We need to get more information."  
  
'This is the Sirius I know,' James thought to himself. He looked for a moment at a determined Sirius and voiced out his thoughts. "We need to find out everything we can about every teacher that works here. It's the rational place to start."  
  
"But how are we going to get that information without drawing attention to ourselves?" Remus said looking thoughtful.  
  
"The one person we can trust and knows this school better than Dumbledore himself," James said looking triumphant.  
  
"Hagrid!" Sirius said happily.  
  
***  
  
When the boys walked over to Hagrid's hut, they were disappointed to only find Hagrid's young pup Fang sitting outside, obviously waiting for his master to arrive. The dog, even though only a puppy, was big enough to push James back when he greeted him.  
  
"So, no Hagrid. Where to now?" Remus said looking disappointed.  
  
"I dunno. He's not the only one missing either. Where's Peter?" Sirius said suddenly realizing their friend had not been with them since morning.  
  
"He said he had things to do. He needed to talk to someone about classes. Seems he's behind, again," Remus said with a sigh. "I wonder if he's ever going to keep up. He can barely keep his head above water."  
  
"He's a bit thick, that's the problem," Sirius said jokingly.  
  
"Some friend you are," James said trying to keep from laughing.  
  
They finally wound up walking back to the castle, heading towards the Great Hall while they tried to come up with an idea about what they should do. They spent the rest of the day thinking about what they should do. None of them could come up with suggestions. Every idea sounded more incredible than the next. There was no way they could just go to a professor and ask them to give them their full name or nickname. It wasn't as though they could approach them and ask them if they were death eaters either. While they were frustrated and annoyed by the time the day ended, they consoled themselves with the idea that as soon as they saw Hagrid, they would be able to ask him all they needed to know. To their disappointment, they didn't see Hagrid at dinner. They had seen Lily walk around with Sarah and Hannah, but she had looked too preoccupied with her friends to pay any attention to the boys or their plans to get information. When Sirius had approached her to tell her what they had come up with she had said she would help with what she could, but that she had some things to take care of that day. Sirius had looked somewhat disappointed by Lily's lack of interest and she had caught on. She had taken him aside when he had arrived to the common room that night after dinner and talked to him about what was worrying her.  
  
"It's just Sarah-she's worried about her parents and I wish I could do something to help her ease her mind, but right now it seems hopeless. I'm sorry if I seem a bit distant," she said rubbing Sirius arm considerately.  
  
"I'm just happy to spend time with you. I'm sorry I seem a little bit clingy," he said looking embarrassedly.  
  
"That's a description for you I never thought I would hear," Lily said amused.  
  
"Well, who wouldn't want to be clingy with you? You've got it all: the looks, the brains, and you're fabulous," he said looking at her adoringly.  
  
She blushed as she smiled at him. She remembered for a moment why she had started to like Sirius to begin with. He had a certain charm about him and she had seen his charm work on other girls, but the way he talked to her, she knew he cared about what she had to say. It was just something about the way he looked at her. Even now, when he had suddenly lapsed in the conversation. At moments he looked a bit lost and confused, as though he suddenly didn't remember where he was. There was still a concentration in what she was saying that he didn't surrender. He leaned down to kiss her softly and she responded, only to see the image of James pop into her head. She pulled away suddenly and looked away. She looked back at Sirius to see a confused and somewhat hurt gaze on her.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said softly. It's just that it feels weird, there are still some people around," she said looking around the common room trying to excuse herself for her sudden action.  
  
They had secluded themselves to a corner where there weren't so many people, but still, on the other side of the room, near the fire, where the other three marauders and Lily's own friends, talking.  
  
"It's okay," Sirius said softly. "You're right. Do you want to go back?"  
  
He pointed towards their friends and she stole a glance at where James was sitting next to Hannah. She found that he had turned away as though he had just been looking in her and Sirius' direction. She looked back at Sirius and shook her head. They spent some time just talking about meaningless things until she finally gave a big yawn. They made towards their friends, who were looking rather relaxed for the first time in days. The girls said goodbye to the boys and walked up the stairs to bed. Lily gave Sirius a quick kiss and walked behind her friends saying goodnight to the rest of the marauders before heading up.  
  
The boys remained there until everyone else had retired to their dormitories. Peter then went upstairs to retrieve the Marauder's map and the invisibility cloak and Remus and Peter saw James and Sirius off as the two boys left the common room to look for Hagrid yet again. Remus and Peter waited patiently for the two boys to return, anxious for any news of anything that might help them in their little investigation. When James and Sirius returned however, they looked disconcerted and confused.  
  
"Hagrid wasn't there," James announced.  
  
"There was no indication that he had left for more than a day," Sirius said looking discouraged.  
  
"Where might he be?" Remus asked thinking outloud.  
  
"What if the person---the death eater hurt Hagrid?" Peter contributed nervously.  
  
"I don't think they wanted anything with Hagrid. What for?" James said plopping down on the sofa.  
  
"They thought someone might've heard them by the Forbidden Forest, you said it yourself," Peter said growing more nervous as he spoke.  
  
"Come off it Peter, stop panicking. Nothing's happened to Hagrid. He probably went down to Hogsmeade for drinks, you know what he's like," Sirius said annoyed at Peter implications. "We'll just have to wait another day to ask him what we want to know."  
  
"What if he is gone for more than a day?" Remus asked worriedly.  
  
"Even though I hate the idea of it, we'll just have to patient. And we might have to rely on someone outside the school to find out information for us," James said pacing. He looked to the fire for a moment and spoke again. "Remus, do you still know that girl--Alice what's-her-name--who got that job in the ministry?"  
  
"Alice Thompson? Yeah, I kept in touch with her during the summer, why? What's your idea?" Remus asked, curiosity peaked.  
  
"Maybe she can look into the most recent people hired here at Hogwarts, After all, she works in the ministry. No better source than them is there?" James said looking at him cheerfully.  
  
"That's a good idea," Sirius said delighted.  
  
"All we need to do is give here the names of the people to look into. We have Professors Iris, Hydra, Ammit, and who is the muggle studies professor? Rhea! I wouldn't dare accused McGonagall of being a death eater, or Sprout for that matter. So just ask Alice if she can find out something about these people," James said counting down a list of their teachers. "That is everyone isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah, that's everyone. I think," Sirius said looking satisfied.  
  
So they agreed on Remus sending a letter to Alice Thompson and waiting for an answer. Once they had the name, they could keep a close eye on their teacher and once they had some actual proof of that teacher's betrayal, they would turn them in. All in a day's work. They went to bed with their plans ironed out. Tomorrow would be spent in class, trying to notice anything in their teacher's behavior that would tip them off. However, they didn't realize that if the spy in Sirius mind kept coming in and out as he had done so all day, they would be caught and they would all be in danger. 


	19. Truth be Told

Chapter 19: Truth be Told  
  
A/N: So here's the tutoring part you've all been waiting for. I hope you guys like it; I know I've taken my time getting to it.  
  
The next day was as hectic as ever. It seemed that teachers were so nervous about the events that had happened during the feast, they had taken it upon themselves to drown the students in homework as to keep them from asking too many questions. Peter had looked nervous during professor McGonagall's class, squeaking a question about human transfigurations (for which his friends laughed at by the way), so that they got an extra load of work on the assignment due for the class.  
  
"I thought I had made myself very clear, Mr. Pettigrew, but perhaps my explanation wasn't enough. Make that-- two rolls of parchment due for next class," she said in a stern voice. The Slytherins, who coincidently, shared that class with them shot Peter threatening glares and even some of the Gryffindors had attempted to hex him when Professor McGonagall had turned her back to them.  
  
"Great going Peter, just what we need, more work," James said irritated as they walked out of the classroom.  
  
Truth be told, the day in general didn't seem to offer anything good. Not after what he had had to endure the previous night in the common room. He had been subjected to suffer, for what had seemed to him like hours, of Lily and Sirius acting like a couple. He had been watching them as discreetly as possible from his seat in front of the fire as they talked in hushed voices in the furthest corner of the common room. Sometime in between, he could've sworn he had seen Lily staring at him, in a way he often found himself staring at her. In yearning for something he knew he couldn't have. He tried to shake those feelings as he saw her enter with her friends into the Great Hall for lunch. He was still deep in thought, thinking about Lily when Sirius' voice took him out of his dreams.  
  
"So are we doing anything tonight?" Sirius said taking a look down the teacher's table. For a while it seemed as though he was looking for someone, but James assumed he was on the look out for Hagrid.  
  
"Don't see him there do you?" James said glancing at the end of the table. "I wonder where Hagrid has gone off to."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked confused.  
  
"I think he's doing it again." Peter said looking at his friends helplessly.  
  
"Sirius? Don't you remember? We've been looking for him since yesterday and he's no where to be found," Remus said looking at Sirius oddly.  
  
"Yes, quite right. Sorry, spaced out for a minute there," Sirius said in a bright voice.  
  
"Well, anyways, if we don't see him for dinner, I think it's safe to say I don't think we'll see him at all. Not tonight anyways," James said as he looked down the table and glanced at Lily once again.  
  
"Well, Prongs, looks like a quiet night in the common room for us tonight then." Remus said as he picked up his goblet and started drinking.  
  
"I guess, if Alice hasn't owled you back yet, I'm not sure if there is anything we can do," he said drawing his attention back to his friends. They made idle conversation for the remainder of the meal when someone tapped James on the shoulder. It was professor Munin.  
  
"I know that with everything that's been going on lately, it might've slipped your mind. I just wanted to remind you that your student will be waiting for you in my classroom today at seven," he said in a somber voice. He seemed rather preoccupied but he gave James a small smile as he walked away.  
  
"What's that about?" Sirius asked James as the professor walked away.  
  
"I had completely forgotten about it. I'm tutoring someone today in DADA. I guess whatever the plans are for tonight, you can leave me out of them. I don't know how long I'll be with the knucklehead I'm tutoring and by the time I might be done we would need the invisibility cloak and the marauder's map," James said slightly annoyed. He partly wished he didn't have to tutor someone, but he welcomed the distraction. Anything would be better than watching Lily and Sirius in the common room again. By the time he had finished speaking, it was time to get to their next class, so they walked back, rather low-spirited, to their ancient runes class.  
  
***  
  
When Lily said goodbye to Sirius after dinner in the Great Hall, she felt an odd sense of relief at the idea of tutoring, being away from everything. Between her endless thoughts about James and Sirius, the cloaked people outside Hagrid's Hut, the unknown attack, and the traitor in their mist, Lily felt as though her once safe haven was now destroyed. She no longer felt as safe in Hogwarts as she had before. All the thoughts that their school was still the safe place against the rising Dark Lord were quickly being put to test. Not to mention, it seemed that the problems that were supposed to come with age and had been delayed for the past years were now starting to accumulate. She had never had any problems with boys, mainly because she had never bothered to consider the idea of a relationship. And it seemed odd that at one point she had actually dreamed of being with Sirius, and now, unwillingly, she saw the face of another boy as she thought about relationships. James' face came unbidden in her thoughts, and while she tried to convince herself that it was because he was the most insistent boy she had ever met, a voice inside herself kept muttering, 'Stop lying to yourself'. She pushed the thoughts off her head again and she walked into the DADA classroom, where Professor Munin had reminded her she was to receive her tutoring.  
  
At ten to seven Lily sat in a desk while waiting for her tutor to arrive. Professor Munin had told her he had set up the best tutor he could find, albeit he had forgotten to tell her their name. So she was to be surprised at seven by her tutor.  
  
When James came into the room, he half-expected to find it still empty. He had tutored people before and knew how rare it was for them to actually be on time. But to his surprise, he found his 'student', as Professor Munin had so eloquently put it, waiting patiently in her desk, unaware that he had even entered the room. He was surprised as he recognized the person sitting with his back to him in the desk. He'd recognize her anywhere, even though he couldn't really see her. That auburn head was as a beacon to him and he smiled as he wondered if she was the person he was to tutor.  
  
'It couldn't be,' he thought as he approached her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked surprising her.  
  
She jumped in her seat and turned to see him. She seemed just as surprised to find him there as he was.  
  
"I-what are you doing here?" She asked repeating his question.  
  
"I came here to tutor someone, but surely that can't be you," he said incredulously, smiling and looking confused. He saw her close her eyes and do a double take on what was to be her company for the night and he spoke again. "Right?"  
  
"I should have asked," she muttered almost inaudibly. She got up from her seat, looked up at him, and said in her most confident voice. "I'm not getting tutoring from you."  
  
"You? You---of all people need tutoring?" he asked unbelieving. "I wouldn't have thought---Why?"  
  
"Well, I---I don't need to explain myself to you," she said starting to get defensive.  
  
"Sorry, I don't mean---it's just that you are Head Girl, Lily. I'm sorry if I do seem a bit shocked," he said looking rather amused.  
  
"I work hard to do well," she said annoyed.  
  
"I don't doubt it." he said a smile still on his lips.  
  
"Stop it!" she said exasperated.  
  
"Stop what? I haven't done anything," he said trying to hold in a smile.  
  
"You want to laugh at me," she said sounding hurt.  
  
"I don't---really. Come on, just take a seat. Let's just get started," he said moving a desk next to the one she was sitting in. When she failed to move at all he looked at her confused. "What is it?"  
  
"I'm not staying. I know you're just dying to laugh at this!" she said annoyed.  
  
"I'm not going to laugh. It's good for you to recognize that you need help," he said keeping a straight face.  
  
"You're still doing it!" she said picking up her books and making for the door.  
  
He rushed to stop her, taking her hand and dragging her back to her seat.  
  
"You obviously need the help; otherwise Professor Munin wouldn't have asked me to tutor you. Now come on, stop being such a kid and sit down. Maybe you'll learn something," he said giving her a smile.  
  
She let out a groan and sat down, letting her books fall on the table. He glanced at her momentarily as she continued to pout and turned to open a book. He started paging the books distractedly and finally looked up at her.  
  
"Wait, before we start. can I ask you something?" he said turning to look at her.  
  
There was a mix of curiosity and slight annoyance etched on her face as she sighed and nodded. "What do you want to ask?"  
  
"Why do you---I mean---what is it---why---" he attempted to ask.  
  
"Why do I dislike you?" she completed for him. She avoided his eyes and sighed. "I'm surprised Sirius didn't tell you. After all, I assumed he would."  
  
She seemed sort of distant for a minute before answering. He could've sworn she heard her mutter for a minute, 'I should've just asked Sirius to tutor me when he offered'.  
  
She looked at her books and started talking rather tiredly as though she didn't want to say it, "You hex people without even bothering about what thy feel. You humiliate them and don't care about what they go through when everyone takes after your example and picks on them too. You set and example James, whether you want to or not, the way you treat people-as head boy and in your last year you should respect people as an example to the younger kids."  
  
It was more of a statement than an accusation. Unlike when she had spoken to Sirius about the same topic, this time she there wasn't an ounce of anger in her voice. It sounded to James as though it was more a piece of friendly advice.  
  
"Is that it?" he said jokingly. She gave him a smile and looked down somberly.  
  
"You should take it into account," she said seriously. "I will. I'm sorry. I know that people take after us and I know it's not exactly nice." he said looking ashamed.  
  
They sat there for a few minutes, neither saying anything, lost in their own thoughts. Lily finally broke the silence voicing out her own feelings. If they were trying to clear the air, it seemed only fair that she ask the question that had been on her mind for a while.  
  
"I've said a lot mean things to you haven't I, James?" she asked almost absentmindedly. "Why would you---I mean why--why were you so intent on asking me out?"  
  
He looked down at his book and avoided her gaze for a while before answering. "I just thought-you and I would hit it off. No real reason."  
  
Truth be told, Lily thought he wasn't being very honest. She glanced back and forth between James and a spot she had stared at on the desk for the last few minutes. She kept thinking about all the times James had asked her out. While some of those times had been embarrassing and degrading, some of them had been rather charming. Moments that he had shared with him had been nice and sweet even. Like that day in the infirmary when she had been tending to his wound; or when they had been searching for Sirius on Saturday night. She wasn't so sure she would've had so quickly forgiven Hannah or Sarah if they got involved with someone they knew she liked. Yet James had thrown away his resentment and anger, to look for his friend. He had been so loyal. It was something that made her look at him in awe. But that was it, she tried to tell herself. That was all she had been feeling when she had looked at him the previous night in the common room. That what those unknown feelings gnawing her at the back of her mind as she forced herself to look at Sirius last night had been.  
  
"Lily, let's just start working why don't we?" James said pulling her out of her thoughts.  
  
"Yeah, right," she said looking back at him. She tried to switch back to learning mode as she looked down at her book, Defense Against the Dark Arts: everything you need to know. "I was having some trouble with counter curses..." 


	20. Grave News

  


**Grave News**  
  
  
**A/N:** I think I took way too long on this one, but I think its good. I hope you guys like it. Remember to R&R!!!!   
  


"I'm not getting the spell right, obviously. I don't know what I'm doing wrong," she whined looking frustrated.  
  


"I think it's your wand movement," James said lifting himself from the desk he was leaning against.  
  


"What about it? Professor Munin said all one had to do was flick their wand at the object one was aiming at," she said without understanding.  
  


"You're not flicking Lily, you're trying to poke someone's eye out!" he said with a small chuckle. She gave him a sour look and his smile got broader. He loved it when she got frustrated. "Here let me show you."  
  


He stood exactly behind her and put his left hand on her shoulder and his left hand on hers, gripping her wand with her. She felt a small flutter in her stomach at the touch but ignored it. Slowly he motioned the movement for the spell, telling her to try it with him. The words 'destruccio' came from Lily's lips and the little box they had set to practice on blew up. Lily jumped around happily at the sight of her destruction while James looked at her amused.  
  


"I can't believe I did it! I think that's the most successful spell I've had so far!" she said smiling broadly at James.  
  


"I reckon you would've been able to do it earlier if you hadn't kept asking about the history behind each spell," he said laughing.  
  


"Oh shut up! I like to know everything there is to know about what I'm studying," Lily said still grinning.  
  


"I think you just wanted to make sure I knew it, to see if I was fit to teach you," said James raising an eyebrow in her direction.  
  


"Well, in all truth, I've never really seen you pick up a book. I just wanted to be certain you knew," she said looking embarrassed.  
  


"It's okay, I mean, I know I'm not the first person you connect with studying. I do pay attention even though it doesn't seem like it," he said looking around the classroom.  
  


"It's not any harder than transfiguration," James said as they were gathering their books signaling the end of the tutoring lesson.  
  


"Says you. Even I know that it's your favorite and possibly best subject," Lily said smiling. "I like defense against the dark arts, I really do, but regrettably it's not my best subject."  
  


"Well, we'll change that," he said giving her a brilliant smile.  
  


"Hopefully," she said happy about how much she had learnt already. She had actually rather enjoyed herself studying with James. He had been very understanding of her confusion and had explained all the things she hadn't understood with the utmost patience. She was almost sad to go as she had enjoyed his company so much. "When is the next class Professor Potter?"  
  


He gave a slight chuckle and grinned at the name. "I don't know how much I like the idea of being a professor... so much responsibility."  
  


"You mean like your Head Boy responsibilities?" she said. She regretted as she said it, his smile faltered, probably remembering what she had said nearly two hours ago.  
  


"Yeah, like that..." he said giving her a weak smile.  
  


She gave him a sympathetic look and smiled hoping to show him there was no remorse from her behalf. "I'm sorry about earlier. I do seem to have a big mouth don't I? I just thought—and you wanted to know---it wasn't my place to say—"  
  


"It's alright, I'm a big boy Lily, and I can take constructive criticism. Besides, it's not like you were wrong," he said avoiding her eyes.  
  


"But maybe I am wrong. I never knew you could be as pleasant as you were these last--" she looked down at her watch and grinned. "Two hours? Wow, that did not feel like two hours!"  
  


"You're right, all those questions made it seem like five hours!" he said jokingly.  
  


She smiled at the joke and gave him a soft friendly push as they walk together out of the classroom.   
  


"So are you always this mean to your friends?" Lily said as they walked to their common room.  
  


"Only to the ones I tutor," he said smiling. He had never imagined he would be where he was then, walking to the common room, and beginning a friendship with the girl of his dreams.  
  


***  
  


"So let me get this straight, Potter, James Potter is your tutor?" Sarah said looking absolutely amused.  
  


Lily simply nodded absentmindedly still looking at her charms book, apparently completely transfixed in what it was that she was reading. In all honesty, she was trying to keep from looking at her friend's shocked faces after she had told them the news. If she appeared distracted, maybe they wouldn't tease her so much.  
  


"How come you're so calm about this? I thought you said you hated him," Hannah asked curiously.  
  


Lily finally looked up at Hannah's words. "Hate is an extremely strong feeling… I don't think I said I hated him."  
  


"Oh yeah you did Lily, if I recall correctly you said that he was, what was it Hannah?" Sarah said smiling widely now that Lily had finally torn her eyes from the book.  
  


"Lets see, you said and I quote, that he is insufferable, stupid, an idiot, a bully, completely unbearable, a humongous git, a bloody jerk, a hateful moron, and as bad as Malfoy. Mind you I don't think there's any worse insult as that… did I get them all?" Hannah said counting each insult with her fingers as she went along.  
  


"I think you're missing a few," Sarah said giggling.  
  


"I think you are…" Lily said thoughtfully. She snapped from her thought as she looked at her friends. "Well, I was a bit harsh, I admit it. I still think he's not all that great, I mean, he was still a bully for the longest time, but he was very civil during tutoring and very considerate."  
  


"So are you two friends now?" Hannah asked confused.  
  


"We're on speaking terms," Lily said plainly.  
  


"Does Sirius know James is tutoring you?" Sarah asked curiously.  
  


"I don't know actually. I haven't seen him since dinner last night," she said sighing. "I think I'll go look for him before I go to bed. Besides I need to ask James when we have the next tutoring session. "  
  


"It's late, isn't it past your curfew?" Sarah said teasingly.  
  


"Well, Daya and Aurora aren't here yet either are they?" Lily shot back as she walked out of her dormitory. She heard vaguely as Sarah sent a raspberry her way and she became somber as she walked downstairs. She needed to ask the boys if they had any information about the mysterious teacher.  
  


***  
  


That night, Lily didn't get much information from the boys. They refused to tell her if they had done anything yet. Sirius had been having one of his confused moments, while James and Remus claimed that there was nothing at all to say. A week later, they still had no news. The owl that Remus' friend had sent listed the teacher's name, none to which they could even think to connect the name Kyrie. Halfway through the week, the boys finally decided to tell Lily of their initial plan of action in one of their late night meetings. While Lily had objected to the time and place of the meeting, the common room had been the only place where they surely wouldn't get in trouble. The boys had suggested meeting outside the common room, somewhere outside the castle even, but Lily had fatly refused. Since they couldn't have a good secret conversation with all the people listening in any earlier than 11, they had decided upon midnight.  
  


Lily waited until her other four room mates had gone to bed until she made her way out of bed. She carefully put on her night robe and tiptoed her way towards the door. She was careful to make as little noise possible as she opened the squeaky door out of the dormitory, but heard a slight squeak at which she herself winced. She heard a rustling of sheets and stood still for a moment, hoping it wasn't one of her friends waking up. After a moment of absolutely no movement or noise, she convinced herself that no one had woken up and soundlessly made her way downstairs.  
  


The boys were there already, in their night clothes, obviously waiting for her.  
  


"Took your time," James said jokingly as Lily approached them.  
  


"You might all be experienced in sneaking out late at night, but I am not. I don't suppose you woke Frank up with those squeaky doors," she said annoyed.  
  


"He's used to it now. During most of first year he would wake up to just about any noise we would make, but I guess he got used to our raucous. He doesn't even move at the loud sounds anymore," Sirius said good-naturedly.  
  


"I think that's because he wears earplugs now Sirius," Remus said smiling.  
  


"He wears earplugs?" James said looking surprised as well.  
  


"He's a rather light-sleeper actually," Peter said amused.  
  


"Aren't we self-centered?" Lily said smiling smugly at both boys. She made her way to the chair Sirius was sitting in and sat on the arm of the chair, running her hand through his hair. Unlike the several confusing times earlier that week, Sirius looked perfectly normal for a change.  
  


James looked a bit jealous at the motion but plainly cleared his throat, making everyone's attention turn to him. "We sent an owl to a friend of Remus'", James informed her as the five of them sat down in the darkest part of the common room.  
  


"When? Today?" Lily asked now looking focused.  
  


"No, last weekend, on Sunday," Remus cleared up fixing his eyes on Lily.  
  


"Why didn't you tell me this before when I asked?" Lily said mildly annoyed.  
  


"Because you wanted to know if we knew anything yet. That's the point, we didn't, and we still don't know," James said retrieving a piece of parchment from his pocket. "Alice works in the Ministry and Remus asked her if she could give us a list of full names of female teachers that work here at Hogwarts."  
  


He unfolded the parchment and handed it to Lily.  
  
  


_Remus,  
  
_

These are the names you asked me to retrieve for you. I hope they help you in whatever it is you're researching. Take care and say hello to Frank and the rest of the marauders for me.  
  


Alice.  
  


Ms. Isadora Iris  


Mrs. Ariadne Hydra  


Ms. Aine V. Ammit  


Ms. Deadren Rhea  


Ms. Lycia E. Shiva   
  
  


Lily eyed it curiously reading the names in the list recognizing them as the teachers she had known for the last few years at Hogwarts. It was hard to believe that one of those teachers was a traitor, someone who had taught them, and yet was in league with something that went against what Hogwarts and Dumbledore stood for. It occurred to her that, like James had said before showing her the list, they indeed had nothing to go on.  
  


"So I guess the option we have to consider is that, whoever this teacher is, they have an alias," Remus said thoughtfully.  
  


"Well, there's more to these people that we need to know besides their names," Lily said thoughtfully.  
  


"What do you mean?" Peter piped in curiously.  
  


"Well, what are these initials? Professors Shiva and Ammit both have them, we need to take into account that they could be the source of the name 'Kyrie'," Lily explained.  
  


"They don't start with a K," Peter said dumbly. (Can you tell I hate him?)  
  


"Obviously Peter!" James said annoyed.  
  


Remus held in laughter while Sirius shook his head and chuckled lightly. Peter just blushed and muttered a silent apology for his momentary silliness.   
  


"Leave it to you Wormtail," Sirius said softly.  
  


"Oh stop laughing you lot! Let's focus---what else was I going to say?" she said giving the three laughing boys a glare. "That's right, the time."  
  


"What time?" Sirius asked now looking confused.  
  


"How long have all these women taught here? That's a factor that needs to be taken into account. I mean, our suspect is most likely to be those who have been here at Hogwarts the shortest amount of time."  
  


"Very true," James said thoughtfully. "Well, we discarded McGonagall and Sprout form the get-go, they couldn't possibly be Death Eaters. They've been here forever!"  
  


"That's right and then we have Professor Iris who, out of that list has been here the longest," Remus contributed.  
  


"I think I know where this is going…" Sirius said glancing at the list that was still in Lily's hand. "We're only going to be left with Ammit and Shiva."  
  


"And just our luck," James said looking now frustrated. "We're going to have to write to your Alice again Remus."  
  


"That might take another week," Sirius said annoyed.  
  


"We'll just have to be patient," James said irritated. "I hate that. There must be something we can do. At least we have more than what we started with."  
  


"But what can we do? We don't know the name, we don't know who it is that we're looking for," Peter said frustrated.  
  


"James is right, we have more than what we started with. We don't know anything about Professors Ammit and Shiva, and maybe it's time that we get to know our teachers a little bit more," she said, green eyes glinting.   
  


She had an idea, but before she could even open her mouth to say it, they heard a sound coming from the stairwell leading to the girls' dormitories.   
  


"Ouch! Hannah, get off!" a voice came from a mess of black and dirty blonde hair.   
  


Lily rose from her seat swiftly and rushed to find her two best friends sprawled on the floor. The boys followed quickly and helped in getting them untangled and standing. Lily just looked at them with a dumbfounded look. They wouldn't be happy about not knowing of her late night meeting. They wouldn't be happy not knowing what had happened a week ago or that she had lied about what had happened the night she had gone looking for Sirius with James. She gulped as she fixed her emerald green eyes on her sulky friends.  
  


"What's going on Lily?" Hannah said looking confused. "You sneak out in the middle of the night to meet with the mischief makers when we know how much you hate causing mischief and getting in trouble. Then we come down here and you're talking about investigating teachers and suspecting McGonagall and Sprout of being Death Eaters! What is going on here?"  
  


Lily just stood there quiet, lacking words to explain what it was that she was doing with the four boys she would've never be caught spending any time with, especially not at midnight.  
  


"Lily come on, you're gonna have to tell us what's going on," Sarah said as a matter-of-factly.  
  


Lily dreaded opening her mouth to explain the situation but they didn't have to wait long. As James was about to open his mouth and explain for Lily, an owl pecked the window like crazy. Peter rushed to open the window for the desperate-looking owl, who as soon as he flew in, dropped an envelope in Sarah's lap. The envelope bore the Hogwarts seal and as everyone looked in confusion, Sarah tore open the envelope to pull out a piece of parchment.  
  
  


_Ms. Bones  
  
_

It's imperative that you head to see Professor Dumbledore straight away. I will be up to the common room to take you to his office within minutes.   
  


Professor McGonagall.  
  
  


The letter had been written in a hurry and as Sarah finished reading the letter out loud, the group of teenagers started questioning Sarah about the possibilities of the letter and its urgency. After a few minutes of 'I don't know' responses from Sarah, they heard the portrait open and Professor McGonagall came through the whole in the wall, obviously surprised to see so many people out of bed. She, however just gave the other students a curt look, and with a soft voice and sympathetic look, directed to Sarah, "There are grave news Professor Dumbledore needs to speak to you about." Sarah nodded looking confused and worried, but by the time she turned to look back at Lily and Hannah, she was already being guided out of the common room by McGonagall towards Dumbledore's office.  



	21. Life Changing News

Life Changing News  
  
Everyone was deep in thought after they saw Sarah being dragged out of the common room. It seemed unsettling the way McGonagall hadn't even bothered to tell all of them off for being out of bed. The way she had looked at Sarah also unnerved them. She had given Sarah a sympathetic, caring, even a soft look that they almost never saw, and not because the older professor was heartless, just because she was a rather strict person, deaf to excuses and whining.  
  
"Tell me what was going on Lily," Hannah said in a soft voice breaking the silence that had engulfed the room. "Did it have something to do with why McGonagall took Sarah to see Dumbledore?"  
  
"We don't know," James answered for Lily.  
  
"Then what do you know?" Hannah said in a soft yet angry voice.  
  
Lily stepped closer to Hannah and pulled her to sit down with her.  
  
"Last week when Sirius was missing we went to look for him at Hagrid's hut. We found someone else nearby and they were speaking about an attack on someone. They also, unknowingly revealed that there's a spy within the teaching staff. We're trying to find out who that person is," Lily said calmly. However, her mind was reeling with thoughts about something else. Words that Sarah had shared with her just a week ago, 'Someone. someone close to us-there's something wrong. I can feel it. Feel it with every sense in my being'.  
  
***  
  
Even with after finishing explaining everything, doubts seemed to linger in Hannah as she looked at Lily uncertainly.  
  
"That's all Hannah, there's nothing else," Lily said trying to reassure her friend. She didn't want to break her promise to Sarah, but it seemed that lately she had been doing too much lying for her own good. She wasn't used to keeping things from both girls, but it seemed pointless to worry them when they had no clue of what they were really doing it. She had to admit, that she didn't really want to confess she was also enjoying the company of the four boys.  
  
"Are you sure? Lily, whatever it is that you think I'm better off not knowing---just tell me if there's something else," Hannah pressed on.  
  
"There is---but I can't say it," Lily said in a final defeated voice. She looked down at the floor, sensing that the boys were now looking at her. She glanced up to meet the group leader, James, glancing at her curiously. He knew, suddenly, that whatever it is that she wasn't telling Hannah, she hadn't told them either.  
  
"What do you mean?" James said now, stepping closer to where Lily and Hannah where sitting.  
  
"It doesn't have anything to do with that night or with any spy that there might be here," Lily said looking at James.  
  
"Then what? Or who?" Hannah asked worried etched through her face. "Is it Sarah? Do you know why she's at Dumbledore's office?"  
  
"I can't tell you Hannah, I'm sorry," Lily said apologetically. She turned to say to the boys in the helpless voice, "And it doesn't concern you guys."  
  
James knew better than to press the subject more, while the rest of them just stood there deep in thought. Sirius walked towards Lily and gave her a comforting hug.  
  
"I suppose when Sarah comes, we can ask her what happened," Hannah said with a sigh.  
  
They waited until daybreak, but Sarah didn't show up. Begrudgingly, Lily and Hannah went to bed after the boys had pleaded with them.  
  
"Lily, we'll make sure you both know when she comes back. Trust me," Sirius said comforting the reluctant redhead before him.  
  
"But I want to be here when she comes back," Lily said stifling a yawn. "She'll need us. She'll need Hannah and me."  
  
"You need to sleep," James contributed from behind Sirius looking concerned. "You'll be no help to her if you're asleep when she's trying to talk to you."  
  
Hannah settled quickly on going to bed, and as they got to their dormitory, they heard faint snores from their other roommates. Lily was about to drift into sleep, when Hannah spoke.  
  
"You think it was Sarah's family," she said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Why?"  
  
Lily bit her lip thoughtfully. She didn't want to break Sarah's confidence. She had been scared, truly scared of what it was that she had seen. She held hope that it wasn't the reason why she had been called to see the Headmaster in dead of the night, but no other explanation seemed reasonable. Hannah knew her enough to know what it was that she was thinking without actually having to ask her. She wished she could've read her mind now, so that she wouldn't have to break their other friend's confidence in her.  
  
"Something she said a couple of weeks ago," Lily said plainly.  
  
"Was it something she did?" Hannah asked curiously.  
  
"It was something she saw," Lily said after a few minutes. She then gave Hannah a last tired look before turning around in her bed and drawing the hangings on the four-poster bed. She heard when Hannah fell a sleep and possibly even snored, while she tossed and turned in the bed next to hers until she finally fell asleep too when the first light of day was coming up.  
  
***  
  
When Lily woke up, she rubbed her eyes and like every morning, drew the hangings from her bed to look at the sun. The day was looking dark and pale, reflecting her now settling mood. She didn't even remember why she was feeling slightly tired and miserable, but as she turned to look around the room, she noticed Sarah's empty and untouched bed. She remembered that she had gone to see Dumbledore; she remembered not being able to say anything to Hannah. She looked at Hannah's bed, next to hers, and noticed that the hangings were still closed. She imagined her friend must've still been a sleep, which surprised her as she had heard her fall asleep before she had. She looked at Daya's and Aurora's already made beds. She got ready as quickly as she could and headed downstairs.  
  
She found that there were barely any people there and she looked at her watch. It was nearly one in the afternoon; everyone else was at the Great Hall, eating. She wondered where Sarah might be, and as she started walking towards the portrait, she felt a hand stop her.  
  
"Don't bother, she's not back yet," James said as he stopped her.  
  
"How do you know?" Lily asked unbelieving.  
  
"Professor McGonagall said that she wouldn't be in lessons today and that both you and Hannah should go see her as soon as you could," he said simply. He looked at her warily. "Do you know what happened Lily?"  
  
"I---I'm not sure," Lily simply stuttered. She could feel him gauging her reaction, trying to see if she could guess what he was about to tell her. "What is it?"  
  
"Remus got the paper this morning," he started as he pulled a piece of parchment out of his robe pockets and handed it to her. "Here."  
  
She was looking at the cover of the Daily Prophet in shock. There, in the cover, was a black and white picture of a house that looked like it had exploded. Hovering on top of the house was the Dark Mark. In big letters, above the picture she read the article name, "Death Eaters kill the Bones Family". She could feel her legs growing weak and she held out her hand to grasp James shoulder to avoid falling. He helped her walk to a couch nearby and she fell into it in shock. It was as she had feared and as Sarah had seen. She could only imagine what it was her friend was thinking or feeling at that point. She finally focused her eyes on the article beneath the picture, where wizards could be seen looking through the rubble obviously looking for any survivors.  
  
Death Eaters Kill Bones Family  
  
The details of the event which was announced last week were finally  
made public this week after the bodies of Joseph and Lauren Bones  
where found in the now-wrecked house in Wales. The attack, which was  
said to have been pre-emptive and a vital move in he-who-must-not-be-  
named's plans of world domination, has still not been fully  
explained.  
  
The attack came as a surprise to many in the department of magical  
law enforcement in the ministry as the identity of the house-owners  
where found to be pure-bloods. The Bones had a record of being  
against Death Eater movement, but up until recently, were not  
considered of any importance to the Dark Lord. Members at the  
ministry are working to find the cause behind the shocking murders,  
but so far no leads have been found to explain the tragic incident.  
  
The Bones are survived by their twenty year old son, Edgar, who  
works in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes; their  
seventeen year old daughter, Sarah, who currently attends Hogwarts  
School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; and ten year old daughter Susan,  
who is to start in the same school next fall. While it's still not  
certain what is to happen to the two youngest members of the Bones  
family, it is expected that their care will fall upon Joseph Bones'  
brother Jacob.  
  
As Lily finished reading, the only thought in her head was, 'Could things get any worse?'  
  
***  
  
Hannah came down to the common room a while later, to find a very silent Lily looking out of the window at the school grounds. She tapped her friend on the shoulder lightly, stirring her from her thoughts. When Lily turned to look at her, Hannah saw her tear-welled eyes and usually pale cheeks, a rosy red. Lily looked at Hannah with sad eyes and without saying a word handed her the Daily Prophet page that James had given her earlier. Hannah read it and dropped down sitting next to Lily, shocked as Lily had looked only an hour before.  
  
"Has---" she struggled to say as she looked at Lily with tears in her eyes.  
  
"She hasn't been here all day... Professor McGonagall wants us to see her, I expect it's to talk about Sarah," Lily said sadly.  
  
"When will she be back?" Hannah managed to ask.  
  
"I don't know," Lily said looking down at the ground away, looking forlorn.  
  
"Why would anyone--why would he---why them?" Hannah said in a choked voice.  
  
"I don't know," replied Lily in an almost absent bleak voice.  
  
"How about Susan? It says here-" she glanced up suddenly, aware that Lily wouldn't have that answer for her.  
  
Lily could feel more tears well up in her eyes as she looked away from the paper Hannah had in her hand. She had known the Bones, stayed with them for a few summers and their home had been Hannah and hers second home. It was almost as though it had been her own family that had been taken away. She had broken down and cried a few minutes after she had read the article. James had held her in his arms as she sobbed helplessly. When she had calmed down, he had volunteered to go downstairs and get some food from the kitchens. He had left only minutes before Hannah had come downstairs.  
  
She felt as though there had been something she could've done. Sarah had told her something was wrong. She had told her she could feel it. Maybe if she had told someone about it---she stopped herself. Sarah had seen the visions about the attack after they had happened. They hit close to home, and perhaps that was the reason why she knew deep inside something was wrong. There wasn't anything they could've done. It made her mad to think that the ministry might've held on to this information for so long. They had probably known straight away who it was that had died. Maybe even Dumbledore knew and it made her blood boil at the thought. That he knew what and how everything had happened. Even now, her mind processed the thought that maybe he knew what was behind all of it. She knew she wasn't thinking clearly, but right now, she needed to blame someone else. She needed to blame someone for the cruelty of the situation. How was it possible that anyone would want to kill the Bones? They were good people, with little to none enemies, innocent, and kind. She knew who to blame for the events that had happened a week ago and were just now beginning to take an effect in their lives. Voldemort. For some insane reason he wanted the Bones dead, and now they were. Because of him, Sarah had lost her parents, because of him, Sarah was probably somewhere right now, crying and blaming herself for what had happened. Lily knew Sarah would never be the same anymore. How could she expect her usually lively and jumpy friend to be the same person she was before? She would be blaming herself for not being able to see the attack coming before it came. She would hate herself for not writing to them more often. She would avoid seeing Lily and Hannah as long as she could just so that she could try to deal with her grief alone. Lily knew she had to get herself together and help her friend in what she could. She knew the attack had been the one Kyrie and the cloaked man had discussed that night outside Hagrid's hut. She also knew she was going to try everything in her power to find out who that traitor was.  
  
"We have to go see Professor McGonagall," Lily said with a resolved look. Hannah gave a nod and followed after her friend, walking down to the old professor's office. 


	22. No Time to Breathe

No time to breathe  
  
Lily and Hannah waited patiently as Professor McGonagall finished talking to a few older students. Preoccupied by what it was that Professor might tell them, Lily didn't even hear when professor McGonagall called them over to her. Hannah nudged her on the ribs softly.  
  
"I'm sure you've both heard the tragedy that has befallen Ms. Bones," she said watching as they nodded dejectedly at her. "Professor Dumbledore had some questions that we feel would not be appropriate to ask Ms. Bones in her current state of mind. He asked me to call upon you both, to ask you if Sarah has told you anything about her visions."  
  
Lily looked wide-eyed at the professor and glanced down almost immediately, as if afraid of what Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall expected them to know. Hannah just looked confused and glanced at Lily, who obviously appeared to be hiding something. Professor McGonagall looked at both girls with an inquisitory gaze. Coming to the same conclusion as Hannah, she gave the blonde-haired girl a sympathetic smile and said in a soft voice, "Would you mind giving me a moment with Ms. Evans, Ms. Spinnet?"  
  
Lily looked up and watched as Hannah simply nodded and gave Lily an unreadable look. Before she left though, Hannah turned to Professor McGonagall and asked concerned, "Professor, where is Sarah?"  
  
"She is resting," Professor McGonagall replied simply.  
  
"Ms. Evans, I believe that you know more about what happened than there is on the paper," the professor started. "But I also understand the delicate nature of that information. Therefore, I ask that you to go to the headmaster's office. I believe he requires a few words with you."  
  
Lily got up and gave the professor a short nod and walked out of the classroom feeling queasy. What would she say to Professor Dumbledore? She needed to tell him the truth that way he could help- but she had promised Sarah she wouldn't. However, it didn't seem like she had much of a choice now. When she made it out to the hall, she noticed that Hannah was nowhere near the classroom. She figured she must've gone back to common room. She couldn't imagine what questions awaited her when it was time to face her. She knew Hannah would be hurt that she wasn't included in something so serious as to involve the headmaster.  
  
She twiddled her fingers as she walked slowly towards the headmaster's office and was so distracted, she didn't notice when she had surpassed it. She was almost at the end of the other hallway when she noticed she had left it behind. She walked back, provided the password, watched as the gargoyle stepped out of the stairway and made her way up, standing before the door that led to her inevitable doom.  
  
She had barely held up her fist to knock on the door when a voice came from within the room. "Please come in Ms. Evans."  
  
She gave a small jump but collected herself long enough to open the door. The headmaster was peering at the door, through his half-moon spectacles.  
  
"Do sit down Ms. Evans," he said in a calm voice. He looked rather serious and she shifted under his gaze. "I believe you know why it is you are here?"  
  
She nodded slowly and felt her throat contract. She wasn't feeling her best at that particular moment. Sarah's words lingering in her mind, '.you have to promise me you won't tell him.' She looked nervously at the professor, who seemed to be distracted himself. She shifted again and gave him an uneasy look.  
  
"No need to be nervous Ms. Evans," he said in a soothing voice. "I just need to know what it is Ms. Bones told you."  
  
Surely the situation had changed, she told herself. Surely Sarah would want Professor Dumbledore to know what she had seen. What she had dreamt. It would help find out why Voldemort wanted the Bones dead. With that last thought, she made up her mind.  
  
"Professor, what exactly-why would-why would any one want to kill the Sarah's parents?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"I'm afraid I can't give you an answer to that question," he stated in a calm voice. "Except that there are some people the dark lord feels will be a threat to him. Unfortunately he believed that the Bones would pose such a threat."  
  
She took a deep breath and met the Headmaster's eyes. When she looked up Dumbledore was looking sadly outside the window, the light that usually shone within his eyes, dimmed by an obvious sadness. She felt a pang inside her heart. How could she have been angry at him, even if he had known? He was so much older and wiser than he seemed and she knew he had his reason for keeping things disclosed.  
  
"Just a couple of days after the attack, Sarah told me she had a vision. A vision where she could see who was attacked, except that she couldn't really see who they were. All she knew was that they were someone close to us-to her. She didn't want to come forward with her vision because she said it would create more trouble," she said in a rushed voice.  
  
"I see," he said simply.  
  
She thought perhaps he was disappointed. Perhaps he expected something else, something more consistent than what she had said. It didn't seem as important now that she had said it. The truth was that Sarah hadn't clearly explained what it was that she had seen. She had just told her she had seen the attack.  
  
"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything else," she said in a sad voice. "Sarah didn't really specify in what she had seen-she just knew something was wrong. It was like an instinct."  
  
"I understand and it's quite alright. I expect what she saw to be something hard for her to put into words. But I must urge you to guide her in this time of need. Has she had any more visions to speak of?" he pressed.  
  
She thought back on the last couple of days. There were so many things that filled every second of what had been going on, that it was hard to separate one thought form the other. Then she remembered.  
  
"The day that Professor McGonagall told us about the attack, the day after the Halloween feast, Sarah woke up in the middle of the night. She said she had seen something in her dreams," she said glancing up at Dumbledore.  
  
He remained still, as though lost in thought. But when she spoke she knew very well, he was indeed paying attention to her.  
  
"Is she okay?" Lily asked in a worried voice.  
  
"She is doing as can be expected," the headmaster provided thoughtfully.  
  
"When will be able to see her?" she inquired concerned.  
  
"I think she will be with you as soon as she is ready," he said looking a bit sad.  
  
"Where is she professor?" she pressed lightly.  
  
"She is resting in a secluded part of the hospital wing. I must ask that you not call upon her and let her come to you," he supplied.  
  
There was a thought in her mind she was afraid to voice out. However, if she wanted to find out about the spy within the school, she needed to speak her mind.  
  
"Professor, is there any chance that this had something to do with Sarah? With her power to have visions?" she asked hesitantly.  
  
"It is not always clear to us why something happen. I have to say you are a quick thinker Ms. Evans. I have to admit that I do not quite see any other reason for this incident. Though I do think it might be a little early to jump to conclusions," he said simply. Somehow, Lily knew it was true. It was all linked. It just had to. The spy, the visions, the deaths---it made her sick to think that something that had seemed so far ago just a couple of weeks ago was now within their mist. (hint hint).  
  
"She just wanted to believe they weren't real." her voice faded. "So did I."  
  
***  
  
Right after her meeting with Dumbledore Lily felt the overwhelming sensation of secrets and worries. She was worried about what Hannah would ask her, wondered what Sarah would be thinking, worrying about her constantly, so much that she had failed to see the change that had befallen Sirius. A change only the best of friends, seemed to have noticed.  
  
She sat in a lounge chair in the common room that night, after failing to find Hannah, when James approached her quietly and serious. She sensed an immediate wariness in his posture and looked at him interestedly as he sat down in the chair opposite to where she was sitting.  
  
"Is something wrong? Did you get the letter from Alice?" she asked immediately forming ideas into her head.  
  
"No, nothing of that sort-yet. There's something else though." he said hesitantly. "I just thought that since you are the only other person Sirius has been spending so much time with---"  
  
She looked down guiltily. She had half paid attention to what Sirius was saying lately as she had been worried for her mourning friend who seemed to still be in hiding.  
  
"I'm not sure I'm the right person to---" she started slowly.  
  
""I know you have other problems, that you're worried about Sarah. I'm not trying to add to that. I just-doesn't Sirius seem to act a little odd to you sometimes?" he asked leaning in closer to her.  
  
"What do you mean? Like disoriented? Yeah, actually but I thought he was just fooling around." she sighed and put her hands on her face feeling the burden of a new problem arising. "Oh! I'm a horrible girlfriend."  
  
"Come on Lily. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm sorry. You're not a horrible girlfriend, really," he said suddenly angry with himself for having brought it up.  
  
She looked down where his hand had taken hers in attempt to comfort her.  
  
"What are you thinking? I want to know. What do you think is going on with him?" she said lifting her eyes to look at him.  
  
"I don't know, it's just that at times, he doesn't even seem to be himself. He doesn't even know what he's doing." James said after a while. "He's been like that since. well, since that night up at the tower."  
  
"What do you think is wrong?" Lily asked worriedly.  
  
"I don't know but I do think we need to keep our eyes and ears open," his voice toning down to a whisper.  
  
"You say it like there's something that could hurt us. This is Sirius, he'd never do anything to anyone. well, except if they were Slytherins," she whispered back.  
  
James just looked at Lily, his eyes full of concern and his brow etched with worry. Lily didn't have to ask then what James was thinking. It seemed that there was no time to breathe between their problems. It was obvious. What if it wasn't Sirius? 


	23. No Where to Go

No Where to Go  
  
Lily let herself fall back on the couch. It was overwhelming. If there was something really wrong with Sirius, how could they decipher what it was? It seemed like they had just too much in their plates.  
  
"Why don't we take him to madam Pomfrey?" she suggested opening her eyes slowly.  
  
"I'm not sure that's what we need to do just yet." James replied hesitantly.  
  
"What do you suggest we do?" Lily urged looking up at James with tired eyes.  
  
"I-I don't know. I'll come up with something. Perhaps I really shouldn't have told you," he said shaking his head.  
  
"No, thank you for telling me. I know it must be somewhat hard-I mean-" she started nervously.  
  
"I know what you mean, don't worry," he said just looking into her eyes.  
  
Suddenly Lily just became aware of how odd the whole scene. There she was having a civil, if not friendly conversation with James Potter, albeit it was about her boyfriend. She mentally cringed at the word. Her boyfriend, who a few months before had seemed so appealing, such a good option was now becoming. a burden. She felt ashamed suddenly that she even thought of Sirius in that way. He wasn't a burden. He could never be a burden. But he was the reason why she felt so guilty at that precise moment and during tutoring with James. There was something there. that happened every time she was with James. She just wished she could get rid of it to concentrate on Sirius. She could feel James eyes on her in that moment. He was concerned about Sirius. He was a good friend. He was a good everything.  
  
"Lily?" she heard James say suddenly.  
  
"Yeah," she leaned towards him, thinking that he wanted to tell her something else about Sirius. Their eyes met and she felt her pulse quicken. They were awfully close. "What is it?"  
  
"I just wanted to know-" he started before being interrupted.  
  
"Lily!" Hannah's voice was for once a tad forceful. "I really need to speak to you."  
  
She was standing right behind Lily's couch and she felt herself blush and for a moment, she could've sworn she saw disappointment flash in James' face. That face was suddenly replaced with one of confusion. Hannah seemed angry. No one had ever seen Hannah angry.  
  
"Okay," Lily said in a small voice. She followed Hannah as she quickly turned and walked up the dormitory stairs and into their own dormitory. "Are you okay Hannah?"  
  
"You know I'm not Lily!" Hannah said tapping her foot angrily.  
  
"Look I know you're in the dark about a lot of things---" Lily started.  
  
"Obviously," Hannah snapped.  
  
"Sarah made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone about---about her visions," Lily said hesitantly. "And I'm not sure if I can say anything right now. But I can tell you it's important and serious and I'm not so sure I made the best decision by trusting Dumbledore what she told me, but if he can help her, then I won't regret it."  
  
Hannah looked down then. When she looked back up, there were tears welling u in her eyes.  
  
"And you can't trust me?" she said sadly.  
  
"I do trust you," Lily said stepping closer to her. "And so does Sarah, but Hannah, you've been through a lot already, with your aunt, we just didn't want to remind you about it."  
  
"What would this have anything to do with my aunt?" Hannah asked suddenly confused.  
  
"Her visions were about-well, about Voldemort," Lily said stepping closer to her friend.  
  
"Vol-voldemort? Wh-what made her think-why would she-" Hannah stuttered to say.  
  
"I don't think I should tell you more than that, Sarah should tell you," Lily said as Hannah sat down on the closest friend as if her legs had failed her.  
  
"She had visions about Voldemort?" Hannah asked numbly. "I can't imagine--- do you know where she is? Did Dumbledore tell you?"  
  
"Yeah, but he said that we should wait until she comes to us," Lily supplied. "She's at the hospital wing."  
  
"And what were you doing with the boys the day before yesterday, talking about death eaters and all?" Hannah sighed. "There are too many secrets here!"  
  
Lily sat down next to Hannah and felt any will to keep her friend in the dark about anything ebb away. She had to tell Hannah the truth.  
  
"Last weekend when Sirius went missing, James and I went looking for him. We looked for him at Hagrid's hut, he wasn't there, but two death eaters were. They were talking about an attack, the attack we now know which was directed at Sarah's parents---" she remembered something then. Something she hadn't remembered until that moment. 'Not many people easily escape him. He wanted them dead that's for sure." The voice came to her as a distant dream she could barely remember. Somebody had survived the attack.  
  
***  
  
Sarah fumbled in the sheets. The tears were threatening to spill all over again. She could still hear them; see them, as if it had been just yesterday she had seen her parents wave goodbye to her at King's Cross. She closed her eyes and felt the tears fall. It had been two days since she had found out. She knew her sister was safe and she was thankful for that, but she didn't know where she was. The paper mentioned that young Susan Bones was alright, but it didn't tell anyone where she was. Susan, she had learned, had escaped their house safely with someone whom Dumbledore had failed to identify. He claimed to not know and deep down, she knew it was true. However, her brain failed to acknowledge that. She accused him openly of withholding information, much as he had earlier that week. He had to have known it was her parents who had died a week before. He was head of the Order and basically knew everything on death eater attacks. He had access to that information.  
  
She dug her face in a pillow and let herself scream. She didn't know how long it would take for the pain to go away. She wished she could see her sister and her brother. She wished her parents would walk through the door and take her into their arms and lull her to sleep. At times she could've sworn she heard her mother's voice telling her everything would be fine. Her dreams led to no comfort either as they brought pictures of horror and screams. She couldn't make out their figures much as she had tried, but she knew now that the attack she had seen had been her parents'. She cursed her visions time and time again.  
  
She had yet to even get out of bed. Madam Pomfrey had visited her a few times to ask how she was doing. After a while of no answers, she had just left her food. She almost felt like a prisoner. She knew she could leave at any time, but she felt like she also had to stay. Stay until she could hold herself together. She had asked for Jacob, knowing very well he couldn't arrive. He was being kept safe somewhere. Just as she was. She didn't know what they were being protected from, but she guessed it was because of her. She didn't guess, she knew. She knew it was because she was a target, her ability to see into the future, brought more trouble than she had ever thought possible. It had killed her parents. She had killed her parents. The thoughts kept overlapping each other and she tried to convince herself that everything was fine, that she was okay. She sat up and looked over at the food tray that Madam Pomfrey had left her. She didn't feel like eating. How could she eat? Her siblings were in danger, she was in danger. There was still no sign of Susan and Jacob was in hiding. Things seemed so unreal. She never thought she would see the day when she would be hiding. She was the unbelievably hyperactive Sarah Bones. She was always happy, always careless. It seemed that the last two days had made her somber up. She shook her head. Not just the last two days, the previous six months. Since she had first started having her visions of death eaters. Since she had seen the attack. She had grown up. She let out a begrudging chuckle. It had taken people to get killed-her parents-to make her be serious.  
  
She turned her back on the food tray and let her thoughts stray down to the other people she knew. She thought of Lily and Hannah. They were like family to her. She needed them too. She couldn't however, imagine facing them then. Nor anyone else for that matter. She couldn't imagine the pity faces she would get from everyone in the school. Just thinking about her made her sick. They would all be so nice about it. That wouldn't make her feeling of responsibility go away. Nor did she want it to. She was responsible. She deserved to be hated. She wanted someone to be mad at her. It seemed like someone should hold her responsible for what happened. It had been her fault after all, or so she thought.  
  
At the end of the day, she imagined what it would come down to. She knew what it was that the visions had been telling her. That the only way to keep her family safe would be to arrive to a compromise with Voldemort. 


	24. Bye Dr Jekyll, Hello Mr Hyde

**Bye Dr. Jekyll, Hello Mr. Hyde  
  
A/N:** _Gosh! I really disappeared didn't I? I meant to post a million times, I really did, but no one told me college was gonna be as busy as it turned out to be! I just finished my first semester and I'm proud to say I did fairly well! I just really wanted to get back to this fanfiction. Though I hope someone will still read it... I'm not planning on abandoning it any time soon though. I already have a map of what I wanna do in the next chapters; I just hope I have an audience to present it to. Please R&R! Tell me what you guys think, I'm a little rusty. I haven't even RPG'd in over 6 months!_

Lily frowned in confusion. If indeed someone has survived the attack it had to have been Susan. But, why would Voldemort be upset at failing to kill someone who wasn't even a threat to him? As a matter of fact, the way the death eaters had mentioned it, it sounded as though they had bigger plans for Susan.  
  
She continued to tell Hannah about what they had heard from the Death Eaters, their decision to not tell Dumbledore about what they had heard, along with the details of what they had gathered about the teachers. Hannah just took it all in, listening to what her friend had been thinking over the past weeks.  
  
"We're still waiting on some background information from Professors Ammit and Shiva. Alice was going to owl us when she found out. Remus was supposed to owl her but with everything that's happened since... well since our previous meeting, I don't expect we'll hear anything back from her anytime soon," Lily said disappointed at the lack of information. "And well... Sarah's parents. I don't understand what's going on... when I talked to professor Dumbledore, I was sure it was all connected. It just has to be. I just don't know how! It doesn't make any sense! Why would Voldemort want to harm the Bones in the first place?"  
  
"That's everyone's question Lils. The truth is no one has any idea," Hannah said dejectedly. "Didn't Professor Dumbledore tell you anything?"  
  
"Nothing useful. Why would he? As far as he knows, I'm just worried about Sarah. He doesn't know that we saw the Death Eaters at all," Lily supplied.  
  
"How come you haven't gone to Dumbledore with this?! Lily, you're Head Girl! You should know better than attempt something like this by yourself. What if the Death Eater finds out you guys know? What do you think he's going to do to you?" Hannah said looking at her friend shocked at her odd behavior. "This isn't like you Lily!"  
  
"I did want to go to Dumbledore, but James and Sirius said that we have no proof. It's our word against a teacher's Hannah! They were right!" Lily said explaining herself.  
  
"He has to know Lily! You have to tell him, I mean, we're only students, we're not even real full-grown wizards! What do we know about Death Eaters!? I know the boys told you that you have no proof, but... wouldn't he believe you?" Hannah asked confused.  
  
"I'm not sure he would. It's a very serious accusation. I'm not sure we have enough to back it up," she said thoughtfully.  
  
"What about Sarah? You said she connected to all of this. I mean, nothing has happened to her, not physically anyways. I don't know; I'm not sure if it all fits. What happened to her family isn't exactly out of the ordinary lately. Loads of families are being attacked," Hannah rationalized.  
  
Lily looked at Sarah and shook her head helplessly. She couldn't explain it. Not by means of words. There was something telling her to look further, almost like an instinct telling her that if she only found that one key of information she would link it together. She gazed out of the window thoughtfully, repeating the many events that had happened since nearly the beginning of the term that might tell her what she needed to know.  
  
"Lily!" Hannah voice called out.  
  
As though snapped out of her thoughts Lily looked up and met Hannah's confused and tired eyes. Being kept in the dark and having had almost no sleep in the last two nights, had apparently caught up with her friend.  
  
"What exactly did Sarah see? What was it she saw?" Hannah asked now that she had gotten Lily's attention.  
  
"She saw the attack on her parents. She just didn't realize it was them," Lily said sitting next to Hannah.  
  
"She didn't know it was them? What did she know? What did she see exactly?" Hannah asked puzzled.  
  
"Well, she said it was all a mess. She was really very desperate when she saw it. She was a nervous wreck, but she was sure about once thing, she knew it was someone close to her," Lily said sadly. "She had told me about the visions just a few days before, when I had caught her with some boy over by the dungeons."  
  
"It's odd... everything. I mean, she seemed so preoccupied with boys, you know?" Hannah said considerately.  
  
"You know, she told me that the reason why she had tried keeping herself so busy, trying to... well, tried to have as much as fun as she could, was because she needed a distraction from her visions. They showed her things she couldn't really understand... Death Eaters and well, Voldemort. All this time, I believed Sarah was the most carefree between the three of us, perhaps even in all of Gryffindor Tower, but she was just bidding her time until she grew up. She must've somehow felt it looming on top of her," Lily said, sympathy evident in her voice.  
  
"This isn't fair..." Hannah whispered. "Why does it have to be this way? Why must we loose everyone we care for? What's going to happen to Susan now? Those wretched visions will kill Sarah's spirit. I mean, I don't suppose they'll show her sunshine and daisies, not in the times we're living, not until Vol-well, you know who, is gone."  
  
"I don't understand how he can be so—well so evil! I mean, there has to be a reason why he kills, doesn't there?" Lily said exasperated.  
  
"Vol—You-Know-Who doesn't have a reason to Kill, he just does Lily," Hannah said, a sad look on her face.  
  
"There has to be something we can do Hannah! It can't be possible that whilst our best friend is suffering somewhere, by herself, in this castle, we're just sitting here, doing nothing! Sarah probably thinks it's her fault. If I know her, she's probably thinking there was something she could've done," Lily said desperately. "We need to prove to her that she's wrong."  
  
"How do you propose we do that?" Hannah asked doubtfully.  
  
"Well, first I suppose we could find out what happened that night at the Bones. What those Death Eaters wanted exactly!" Lily said suddenly.  
  
"It's clear what they wanted; they wanted Sarah's family dead. Well at least her parents and Susan," Hannah replied.  
  
"I don't think that's all. There has to be more to it than that. There just has to be," Lily said, thinking out loud. "We can ask James for help..."  
  
"How'd he get involved in this conversation? Get his help with what?" Hannah asked, suddenly confused.  
  
"Well, the only witness we know is Susan, we can find out through her," Lily said, getting up from her spot on the bed. She began pacing up and down before Hannah.  
  
"And how do you propose we talk to Susan about that? It's cruel Lily, we can't ask her about the night her parents died," Hannah rationalized yet again.  
  
"Well, not talk per se... but see, James knows this spell, to get into a person's dream..." Lily started hesitantly.  
  
"Is it complicated?" Hannah asked apprehensively.  
  
"We didn't get into too many details, but it seemed complicated..."  
  
James sat in the common room, his mind processing everything that had been going on. It was impossible how things had become so complicated. Death eater attacks had become common during the last year; Voldemort choosing people he considered to be troublesome to get them out of the way. But no matter how common it had become, it was still horribly frightening to get mail, particularly after the attack on Sarah's parents. They represented no know threat to Voldemort, yet they had been targeted and now they were gone.  
  
That was one concern, but he was still worried about the death eater infiltrated in the school... and Sirius. There was still Sirius. He was acting suspicious, so unlike the adventurous and clever friend he knew. Lily had noticed it and was concerned. As a matter of fact, she was clearly terrified at the idea that Sirius was hiding something, especially when everything was looking as bleak as it had during the last couple of weeks. There was more to her concern however, and he knew it. It had become a consequence of them spending so much time together. He had gotten quite skilled at deciphering her emotions and white lies. Between tutoring and death eater suspicion meetings, he was getting to know her in a deeper level than he ever thought possible.  
  
They were friends. That's more than he could have possibly said about any girl he had ever been involved with. He realized though, that this was much harder than it looked. He continuously had to keep his feelings in check. Every time he saw her smile from an idea, her soft voice when she expressed concern, her sad eyes when there was something wrong, drew him into her so much more.  
  
He was shook out of his thoughts at the noise of someone falling from the stairs coming from the boys' dormitories.  
  
"Move out of the way!" a voice he recognized as Sirius barked out as he came down the stairs.  
  
"What's going on?" he called as Sirius rushed across the common room and walked through the portrait hole. Sirius ignored him and walked swiftly. James ran out behind him until he caught up with his friend.  
  
"Sirius, where the bloody hell are you going in such a hurry?" James asked confused by Sirius' odd behavior.  
  
"I have things to do Potter, not all of us can sit around and do nothing!" he snapped back at James.  
  
"Nothing? I've been waiting for you! You were supposed to tell me what you found out about Professor Ammit, remember?" he responded angrily.  
  
"What about Professor Ammit?" Sirius replied in a whispered and threatening voice.  
  
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" James replied surprised at Sirius's tone.  
  
Sirius's eyes changed glint for a second before he pushed James against a wall. "What about Ammit, eh Potter? You should stop sticking your nose where it doesn't belong!"  
  
"Sirius! What are you doing?" Lily yelled as she rushed over to the boys.  
  
By then people had started to gather around both boys. Lily tried pulling Sirius off of James, but his grip on him was strong. Finally Lily managed to pull him off, only to trip, making the two of them, fall flat on the floor. James slumped to the ground short of air; while Remus and Hannah rushed to their friends worriedly. Sirius was disoriented for a moment before he looked at Lily. She looked at him apprehensively and scooted towards him.  
  
She leaned over to him, checking him for any wounds. He still looked rather confused as she felt a wound in the back of his neck.  
  
"Sirius? Sirius, are you okay?" she asked concerned.  
  
He looked at her almost perplexed; a blank look soon covered his face. He looked rather helpless but winced when she felt the wound up. She looked over at James who was still rubbing his neck, still feeling a little short of air from Sirius's grip.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" James asked upon seeing Lily's worried expression.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing. He was something on his neck," she said trying to make him sit up, only to find his body to completely limp. She turned to look at Remus and Hannah. "Help me get him up."  
  
The crowd of people had gotten quite closer as they saw interestedly as the three attempted to lift Sirius to a sitting position. Lily pulled Sirius head onto her shoulder and pulled his hair to the side. She could now feel a scab on his neck and unable to actually see it looked at Remus and Hannah.  
  
"Well, what is it?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure I've ever seen anything quite like this. It looks like some sort of... bug bite," Madam Pomfrey said examining Sirius neck. "But no bug bite I've ever seen before."  
  
"Well, it's not poisonous is it?" Lily asked concerned.  
  
"I'm no sure to be honest. I think I'm going to have to call professor Kettleburn, perhaps professor sprout, I'm sure they'll have an idea of what bit him. I'll have to ask that he not have any visitors meanwhile, it might be contagious, we can't be sure," she said shooing James, Lily, Remus, and Hannah from the infirmary.  
  
James knew Lily was beyond herself with worry. There was nothing he could think of to make her feel better. And there was one question plaguing his mind.  
  
"I wonder if that bite mark has had anything to do with how he's been acting lately," he said, accidentally thinking out loud.  
  
"What?" Lily asked, turning to face him preoccupied.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lily. I was just thinking out loud," he said looking apologetically at her.  
  
"What do you think is wrong? And why where you two fighting? What was going on?" Lily said glancing nervously between James and the room that led to Sirius.  
  
"Well, I'm not sure. He looked at me so coldly, like he didn't know me... like if I were some kind of threat. I didn't recognize him and if I didn't know better, I would say he didn't recognize me either," he said thoughtfully.  
  
"That's just insane James! You two have known each other all your lives! You must've said something to make him upset!" she replied hotly.  
  
"I didn't! He came rushing down the stairs and he pushed a 3rd year out of the way! I was supposed to talk to him and get info he had gathered from Professor Ammit. As soon as I asked him about it, he pushed me against the wall!" James explained.  
  
"That doesn't sound like Sirius," Remus replied thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah, I mean Sirius would do that! Especially not to you!" Lily said accusingly.  
  
"I know Lily. That's why I was thinking; maybe something happened to him, something having to do with that bite. I mean, Madam Pomfrey doesn't know what it is. We don't even know how long he's had it," he said, trying to think of the moment when Sirius had first started acting so oddly.  
  
"We would've--" Lily started.  
  
"We have Lily. He has been acting weird for a while now. You know that," he said gently.  
  
"He forgets a lot of things very suddenly..." Remus said contributing to James theory.  
  
Lily shook her head in disagreement.  
  
"You can't be serious! He's had a lot on his mind. Anyone would forget things," she said trying to keep the worry from her voice. "We have to wait until Madam Pomfrey tells us what's wrong, Stop assuming."  
  
"I'm not, but you have to admit that there's something wrong with Sirius and right now, well, that bite mark is the only thing that seems to be wrong with him," James said trying to reach Lily.  
  
"But you can't be sure. We don't know anything for sure," Lily replied adamantly.  
  
"It's just a theory Lily," Hannah lending a supporting hand to her friend.  
  
"I know one thing for sure," James started meeting Lily's eyes. "That wasn't my best friend who pinned me to the wall tonight." 


End file.
